KUALA LUMPUR: ‘We are stupid, arrogant and lazy coaches... not fit to comment on the coach from Germany.’
That was the cynical response of Malaysian Football Coaches Association (MFCA) president, B. Sathianathan today when asked to comment on the performance of the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) director Lim Teong Kim.
Teong Kim, who has a whooping monthly pay of up to RM175,000, tax free, has come under criticism from fans after Malaysia failed to qualify for next year’s Under-17 World Cup in Peru.
In the qualifiers, the AFC tournament in Kuala Lumpur last week, Malaysia started well by beating Tajikistan 6-2 but later lost 4-2 to Thailand and 2-0 to Japan.
Former national coach B. Sathianathan noted that Teong Kim has been paid well (RM175,000 monthly by the Sports Ministry) — just to teach kids.
“I don’t think anywhere else in this world is a coach paid so much for coaching an Under-16 team.
“As to whether the salary is too high or appropriate, I rather not comment on it.
“This is a subjective issue (on salary). It is not Teong Kim’s fault that he gets such a high salary.
“Maybe those responsible (in hiring Teong Kim) were very keen to get his service. So, they offered him this high salary. So we should ask them (the responsible party),” said Sathianathan
Teong Kim, a former youth coach of Bayern Munich, is estimated to get a pay of RM2.1 million a year. This is even more than the annual salary (RM1.3 mil) of Poland coach Adam Nawalka, who took his team to this year’s Russia World Cup.
On the failure of the national Under-16 team in the AFC age-group tournament, Sathianathan said it was embarrassing for Malaysia after having spent millions on them.
However, he said the NFDP (which has cost RM80 million), should be allowed to continue as it is a good programme with creditable KPI.