NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE !

THE state of Malaysian football got a kick in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday as the Youth and Sports Ministry wound up points raised during the debate on the Royal Address.
The target of MPs ire was the Football Association of Malaysia which they said failed to check the declining standard of the sport. However, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wee Jeck Seng defended FAM, saying that it was planning a programme to revive the fortune of football.Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) chided the FAM for its failure and lamented that the national team could not even beat a country like Vietnam which not too long ago was grappling with poverty."We have been beaten by a country which could not even feed its citizens," he said.
When Wee said the government could not interfere in the affairs of the football governing body, Bung Mokhtar countered that the FAM had been giving excuses for its failure for decades."No sponsors are giving money because of the poor standard of Malaysian football. "Even AirAsia is willing to go abroad to sponsor Manchester United because they have good players and are a good brand to be associated with."Wee said FAM was serious about improving football and had even got the private sector to field teams.These included teams like Team KM Naza, UPB MyTeam, KL PLus, Johor FC and Felda United.Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong) called for the FAM board to be given the boot. Several MPs criticised the leadership qualities of those running youth associations. Azan Ismail (PKR-Indera Mahkota) said the standards of youth associations had gone down as they were being led by elderly people."The older leaders should step down and let the youths take over because they know their interests."Some people want to become association leaders for their own reasons and this will not help to attract new members."Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib (BN-Maran) said senior leaders were preferred as they had the financial capacity to fund association programmes.However, he agreed that they should resign their posts if they could not perform.Wee said the ministry would draw up programmes to attract more youths to these associations, based on feedback from MPs and other quarters.