KUALA LUMPUR: Syahmi Safari may have to forgo his plans of representing the country in the AFF Under-22 Championship in Cambodia on Feb 17-26.
It is because his club, Selangor need him for their Super League matches.
Among those in Ong Kim Swee’s 26-member squad are Ahmad Tasnim Fitri Mohd Nasir (Felda United), Dominic Tan. Haziq Nadzli (both JDT), Amirul Ashraf Ariffin (UiTM), R. Dinesh (Pahang), Nik Azli Nik Alias (Kelantan), Nabil Hakim Bokhari (Kuala Lumpur) and Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak (Fagiano Okayama).
JDT’s Akhyar Rasid and Safawi Rasid were surprisingly left out by Kim Swee for the assignment.
However, the FA of Selangor (FAS) could be against releasing defender-cum-midfielder Syahmi for the tournament as he is a regular with their Super League side.
Furthermore, several countries competing in the AFF event are only treating it as a warm-up for the AFC Under-22 qualifiers next month.
Selangor coach B. Sathianathan said he is leaving it to FAS to decide whether to release Syahmi for the tournament.
“Syahmi is an important player, but it will be up to the management to decide. It is also important that Selangor do well in upcoming matches.
“He would miss at least three games if he goes. It will be difficult for us as we will need to see whether we have an able replacement in his absence,” said Sathianathan, adding that he will discuss with Kim Swee over Syahmi’s release tomorrow.
When contacted, Kim Swee said it is important to have Syahmi in his squad as he needs him to fill the void in midfield.
“Syahmi can play in any position in midfield. However, we also are aware he is an important player to Selangor. We will see how it goes,” said the former international.
Asked why Akhyar and Safawi were left out, Kim Swee said both have already proven their quality in previous assignments.
“I am using the AFF tournament to test players and combinations. I need to assess those who did not perform or were injured in the past in this tournament.
The players will report to Kim Swee for a five-day centralised training at the National Sports Council (NSC) field in Bukit Jalil on Sunday. The team will depart for Phnom Penh on Feb 15.
Malaysia will open their Group B campaign against Cambodia on Feb18, followed by matches against Indonesia two days later and Myanmar on Feb 22.