KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) plans to hold discussions with all Super League clubs regarding the decision by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to mandate their participation in the President's Cup and Youth Cup starting in 2024.
MFL chief executive officer, Datuk Stuart Ramalingam (pix) stated that the purpose is to assess the clubs' ability to implement this decision and their understanding that it is for the player development process.
“It is a decision that I feel is good for development, but it is a discussion that I also need to have with all the CEOs of the clubs to ensure that what FAM has announced can be implemented at the club level.
“MFL also wants to see the clubs’ understanding of the decision made by FAM the other day, which is a development-based decision needed from the professional clubs in the Malaysian League (M-League),“ he said when met recently.
The President's Cup is an Under-20 (U-20) age group tournament, while the Youth Cup is for the Under-18 (U-18) age group.
Elaborating further, Stuart said that everyone needs to understand the importance of the development aspect, which will not only benefit the teams from various perspectives but will also be advantageous to the national squad.
According to him, investment in development teams is as crucial as the decision of clubs wanting to acquire an international player.
“Sometimes the decision to sign an international player costs the same as the development cost that a team is not willing to pay,“ said Stuart, who acknowledged that over 60% of Super League teams this season have sent development teams.
Super League teams were previously given exceptions to either send Under-23 (U-23) or U-18 teams.
However, on Nov 6, the FAM Executive Committee mandated that all Super League teams next season must send teams for the President's Cup and Youth Cup. -Bernama
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