I REFER to the article “Old school thinking hinders NFDP”(NST, Jan 27).
The Football Development Programme (NFDP) has come under fire from the press due to allegations of deteriorating conditions of four barren pitches and hard ground surface which our young players can be prone to injuries at the Mokhtar Dahari Academy in Gambang, Pahang.
Also, the news that several coaches had tendered their resignation further puts a damper to Malaysia’s dream of having the finest players for the 2019 under-17 World Cup.
Our Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin needs to take a professional approach to invite the press to give accurate information on the progress of the NFDP programme since its inception last year rather than being impulsive and defensive on Facebook posting.
The press, as a responsible corporate social citizen must be the “eyes and ears” to the various relevant stakeholders and must keep the football community, Football Association of Malaysia(FAM), Malaysian Schools Sports Council(MSSC), National Sports Council, State FA’s and Olympic Council of Malaysia(OCM) informed of the progress of the NFDP where millions of dollars of taxpayer money is being invested in the programme.
There is no doubt our Youth and Sports Minister has taken the mammoth task to uplift Malaysian football from the doldrums personally by hiring NFDP programme director Lim Teong Kim, a former international player to undertake this challenging responsibility based on his vast experience as a player, coach and football administrator in West Germany.
What is needed now is team synergy from all parties to ensure all teething problems on maintenance of the pitches, ineffective supervision and allegation on the exodus of the coaches must be acted upon proactively to ensure that the programme is not derailed.
It is every Malaysian’s dream to see the NFDP programme bearing fruit with more than 52,000 school children nationwide expected to undergo talent profiling and identification test from the ages 7 to 12.
The goal is to produce a pool of young talented players who will represent Malaysia by attaining Asian standard just like some of our unsung heroes Datuk Soh Chin Aun, Chow Chee Keong, Datuk Santokh Singh, Datuk M.Chandran and the late Datuk Mokhtar Dahari and Datuk R.Arumugam and other outstanding players who took Malaysia to the 1972 Munich and 1980 Moscow Olympics without the best of incentives, facilities nor sports science knowledge. It was just through sheer hard work, perseverance and national pride.
Let the various stakeholders put aside their differences, ego, clique system and old school of thinking by working as partners to ensure there is governance and effective administration of this comprehensive NFDP programme.
C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu
Seremban, Negri Sembilan