PUTRAJAYA: The sports ministry will extend all its support to the FA of Malaysia (FAM) to ensure the national Under-23 football team qualifies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Encouraged by the performance of coach Ong Kim Swee's side at the recent AFC Under-23 Championship in China where Malaysia lost 2-1 to South Korea in the quarter-finals, Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin agreed that reaching Tokyo is a realistic proposition.
Khairy said he had a conversation earlier this week with FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim where the subject of Olympic qualification was discussed.
"I have discussed it with the FAM president and we will see how we can offer support, through sports science, for instance," said Khairy after witnessing a sponsorship signing ceremony between the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) and Kumpulan Bina Darulaman Bhd on Wednesday.
"This Under-23 success is not only for Kim Swee but also the new FAM management. The preparation and planning were better.
"You can argue these players were developed long ago but the preparation and exposure toward the end was very important. I think there is real change taking place."
Kim Swee has requested that a plan to reach Tokyo be put in place now with the current batch of Under-21 players being given priority.
"With the improvement shown by the Under-19 squad under Bojan Hodak and NFDP coming through, I am not going to say the future is great but there is more than hope," said Khairy, who referenced VIetnam’s recent success at age-group level.
"These things should not be seen in the context of developing the national team only. You have to look at the entire ecosystem.
"The league is getting better and when you have top teams raising the bar then of course the players will get better.
"A lot of the Under-23 players are playing for top clubs and they have shown they can perform at the highest level."