FAM chief to explain mauling of Harimau Malaysia

PUTRAJAYA: Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Hamidin Mohd Amin will answer all questions pertaining to the national football team’s poor performance, especially in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 held in Singapore last month.

He said he would hold a press conference on Friday to address issues and queries regarding the team, and refused to answer any questions pertaining to it today.

“I will answer everything to do with the football team on Friday,” he said after the groundbreaking ceremony of the FAM headquarters at Presint 5, Putrajaya.

Denying that he was dodging queries from the media and football fans, Hamidin said he had been attending to family matters outside the country.

“Yesterday, I just cut off my wristband after undergoing quarantine,” he said.

The media had reported that football fans wanted Hamidin to step down following the failure of the national squad, Harimau Malaya, to achieve their target of reaching the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 in Singapore last month. Malaysia did not even qualify for the semi-finals.

The national team was trounced 4-1 by Indonesia and failed to get past the first round. They were earlier hammered 3-0 by Vietnam after posting wins over Cambodia and Laos.

Head coach Tan Cheng Hoe took responsibility for the failure and stepped down from his post.

In the wake of their disastrous outing, football fans called for changes in the FAM leadership.

Sportswriter Haresh Deol said it was strange that football still remained the number one sport in Malaysia.

He said football received millions of ringgit from the federal and state governments annually, but the returns on investment had been poor. — Free Malaysia Today