KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — South Korean Kim Pan-gon as brought many changes to the performance of the Harimau Malaya since he was appointed as the head coach of the national football squad in mid-February last year, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

She said this was proven when for the first time since 43 years ago, the national football team managed to qualify on merit for the 2023 Asian Cup in June last year.

"He also managed to prove his ability by leading the team to reach the semi-finals of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022, thus meeting the target set by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

"Therefore the appointment of foreign coaches is not a new thing in the world football arena and the appointments made are based on experience and track record to help athletes show their best performance,” she said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

She said this in response to the original question posed by Kalam Salan (PN-Sabak Bernam) who asked if the ministry still believed in the ability of the existing coaches and naturalised players based on the achievements in the AFF Championship and the latest ranking of the Harimau Malaya.

Hannah said the presence of naturalised players in national football is also not a concern because her ministry is always working with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to ensure the development of local players is a priority through the National Football Development Programme.

In terms of the current ranking of the Harimau Malaya, she said they are currently ranked 145th in the Fifa rankings, 25th in Asia and fifth in Asean.

Meanwhile, replying to Kalam’s supplementary question on whether her ministry plans to hold football leagues again at the district level to enliven activities for youths in the districts, especially in rural areas, Hannah said she would discuss the matter with FAM.

"I believe through the new initiatives in the 2023 Budget, matching grants will enable more sports activities at the grassroots level as proposed,” she said.

When presenting Budget 2023, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a matching grant fund amounting to RM50 million to encourage private sector sponsorship for sports programmes especially based on unity, the organisation of competitions at the national level and sports reality programmes. — Bernama