State football players not joining national team due to scheduling conflicts

 

PARLIAMENT | The issue of state football teams refusing to allow their players to join the national football team stems from scheduling conflicts, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

This is because the players need rest after each tournament, she said.

“The refusal of state football teams releasing players to represent the country is due to the conflict of schedules and an insufficient resting period after joining a tournament.

“This is because the dates of tournaments like the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship are not included in the official calendars of international tournaments as set by (football’s world governing body) Fifa,” Yeoh said in a written response.

She was responding to a query by Hulu Terengganu MP Rosol Wahid who asked the ministry about actions taken towards state football teams refusing to release their players to represent the country in international tournaments.

Yeoh said the best approach to resolve this issue would be for the national football coaching team to form bigger groups of quality players from more teams that can be chosen on a rotational basis to represent the country at international tournaments. - Mkini