KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — Opening the coaching positions of the national football team to all applicants may be the best way to find the right individuals for the job, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.

But Khairy also said that he will let the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) decide on how it wanted to find replacements.

Minister Khairy Jamaluddin: FAM’s call, but ... — File pic by Choo Choy May

“Maybe open call is the best. So they can see all the qualified candidates and can make their choice.

“I leave that to FAM, it is their right to select a coach,” he told reporters here as he gave his personal opinion.

Khairy pointed out that the open call method was previously used to find replacements for former national coaches B. Sathianathan and Datuk K. Rajagopal, with many stepping forward to show interest in the job.

Dollah Salleh was appointed last July to coach the national team after Rajagopal’s contract ended in December 2013 and a deal with prospective French replacement Philippe Troussier failed.

Dollah resigned a day after Malaysia’s 10-0 defeat to the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifying match on September 3.

Datuk Ong Kim Swee, who was coaching the national Under-23 team, was appointed to temporarily head the national team until this December.

Yesterday, The Star Online reported that FAM has decided to place advertisements for candidates to fill in as the new coaches of the national team and national Under-23 team.

FAM deputy president Datuk Mokhtar Ahmad reportedly said that FAM will form a panel with members from the National Sports Council to pick the next coach for the Under-23 team.