KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican hopes that players from the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) called up to the national Under-19 squad will make an impact at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from October 14-31.
“It is hoped that (the NFDP players) will provide added value to the national squad. I want to see the programme bear fruit although the idea was mooted and implemented by previous ministers.
“The idea was mooted by Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek before it was comprehensively revamped under Khairy Jamaluddin. So, perhaps we will now see its success after so much had been invested in the last three to four years,” he said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) today.
Reezal Merican, his deputy Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal as well as Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and MFL president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin watched the Under-19 squad train under coach Brad Maloney at Wisma FAM yesterday.
“I was briefed on the team’s preparations and, although teams are only allowed to conduct non-contact training during the recovery movement control order (RMCO) period, I can still see that all the 35 trainees are very determined.
“It is hoped that in a day or two there will be some changes and some forms of training which are not allowed now will be permitted and normal football training can resume so that we can ensure the players are well prepared for the challenges at the (AFC Under-19) championship,” he said.
The national Under-19 team has been drawn in Group D with 2014 champion Qatar, Tajikistan and Yemen for the final round of the AFC Under-19 Championship and is undergoing training from Monday (July 6) to July 26.
Reezal is set to table a proposal to the Special Ministerial Meeting on the Implementation of the RMCO, to be chaired by Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, tomorrow (July 9) for full contact training to be allowed so that the Malaysia League (M-League) and other sports activities could resume in the near future. — Bernama
