KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The decision by four national footballers to retire from the national team in the span of just two days this week, clearly raises 1001 questions from local football fans.

National team captain Safiq Rahim and Aidil Zafuan Radzak, both who play for Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) announced their decision on Tuesday, and they were joined by club teammates S. Kunanlan and Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal, yesterday.

The reason given was that they wanted to give a chance to the younger players. However, there seems to be other reasons that have encouraged them to make the rather rash decision.

Injury factors, besides commitments to their club rather than representing their country may be among the reasons they made the choice.

However, former national player of the 60s, Khalid Ali opined that injury factors should not be a reason for a player to retire from representing the country.

"I played football for many years, at club level and also for the country along with Datuk Soh Chin Aun and Datuk Santokh Singh, the three of us never sustained any serious injuries.

"For me, the main reason they want to retire is because there is a mastermind who wants to ‘kill’ football in the country by inciting them not to play for the national team,” he said.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) should be wise by not entertaining the views of the mastermind, which could destroy the country’s football, he added.

"FAM should also form a national team with new faces and not overly rely on the existing players,” said Khalid.

The key question local fans are asking of the four players is the timing of their retirement, as they are all still capable of contributing to the national team.

Even Harimau Malaysia (national squad) coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee is still seeking the services of the four concerned, especially for the Asean Football Federation Championship (AFF) at the end of the year, and the third qualifying round of the 2019 Asian Cup expected to be held in March next year.

News of players retiring from international duty is nothing new, with even the likes of Barcelona star Lionel Messi of Argentina announcing his retirement after Argentina lost to Chile in a penalty shootout in the final of this year’s edition of the Copa America for the second time in a row.

The retirement of the four players is a clear message to the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) management to go down to the ground in search of new talented and capable youngsters who can perform at the national level.

They should look at how the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) has drafted the National Football Development Programme (FDP) with special focus on the development of new talent to raise the standard of local football at all levels. — Bernama