KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin believes that they still need the government’s support, especially in helping to develop the sport.

In addition to the support provided by the government, he said they also count on government assistance through government-linked companies (GLCs), with the hope that a collaboration between FAM and the GLCs would have a positive impact on both entities.

“We still need support from the government, especially to lift Malaysian football.

“... but it would be good if we could get support from the big GLCs to collaborate with FAM, not just in terms of finance but to assist FAM in the future,” he said.

He said this when asked whether the government’s role, assistance and attention to football currently helps FAM to further develop the country’s football ecosystem during an exclusive interview with Bernama at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya recently.

At the same time, the 58-year-old believes there is still space to further enhance ties between FAM and the government.

He added that although he has a good relationship with Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, there needs to be more understanding regarding the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) and the Mokhtar Dahari Football Academy (AMD) in Gambang, Pahang.

“Currently, it is general knowledge that the NFDP is partly (managed) by the NSC (National Sports Council) and partly by FAM. But certain teams, like in the AMD need to be given to FAM, not for us to privatise them but to install experts from overseas to manage the AMD.

“... because if we look at the last 10 years, we did not get a good product from there (AMD) to produce quality players. So, there needs to be a revamp there and somebody must be responsible for AMD,” he said.

Hamidin said he has given Hannah his views regarding the NFDP and AMD and believes she will study the matter in detail.

On May 10, the NFDP steering committee announced the appointment of Australian Football Association Coach Education lead Oscar Francisco Gonzalez as NFDP technical director effective April 21.

Oscar, who will also assume the duty of AMD technical director, was chosen based on the suggestion of the FAM, who interviewed four candidates last December.

For the record, the collaboration between FAM and NFDP in December 2020 led to the formation of the FAM-NSC Project squad as part of efforts to create a career pathway for NFDP products, including AMD graduates, in helping the youngsters transition to the senior and professional stage.

It is reported that the Project squad, who competed in the Premier League for two seasons in 2021 and 2022 and the Malaysia Football League (MFL) Cup last season, will be disbanded this season. — Bernama