Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had to take one for the team yesterday when tackling a question that has surely plagued his ministry for decades: why hasn’t Malaysia qualified to compete in the World Cup?
Speficically, The Rakyat Post reports Datuk Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad, MP of Kuala Kangsar, wanted to know why Malaysia was unable to qualify for this year’s World Cup, currently taking place in Brazil.
“I want to know what went wrong as we were once giants in the game,” Khairil Anuar asked.
Khairy had to explain that Malaysia’s troubles stem from funding issues at state-level football teams, compounded by poor development plans for football.
He also said that the national football development plan needs a long time to be developed because his ministry is forced “to build from scratch”.
“The current system is not good enough for us to even win the Asian Cup.
“Our mistake is on the development part.
“Almost all state football teams and the Malaysian team receive the smallest amount under development funding.”
Khairy said that unless the issue was addressed at the state level, the situation would never change.
“This is how it will be as we have a system where the base is weak.”
