KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) is planning to give special privileges to Malaysia League (M-League) teams that are willing to release their players for national duty.
MFL chief executive officer, Kevin Ramalingam said that he will be forwarding a few proposals including the provision of such special privileges to MFL’s board of directors in efforts to prioritise the national agenda for the sake of the national team at international level.
Kevin explained that he believes such a proposal of according special privileges to teams will indirectly lead to a win-win situation between the M-league’s administrators, the teams and the national squad from the senior team right down to all the different age group levels.
“At present, the rules and regulations that are in place prioritise on the national senior squad and not the various other age group level teams. MFL believes that the age group level teams are just as important when it comes to national call ups and centralised trainings, so perhaps we can bring this up to the MFL board of directors meeting in the very near future.
“From such a proposal there is a possibility that we could accord some special privileges to teams that release their players for national duty.
“As to what the special privileges will be, it has still not been discussed yet with MFL’s board of directors, but perhaps we could put forth a proposal whereby if a team were to readily release their players for national duty without a fuss, then perhaps they could register up to 35 players instead of 30 for the Malaysia League for example, if it is able to give the team an edge.
“We cannot force but from the league’s perspective, the national agenda and the success of the national team is very important for the league. This is because when the national team succeeds then the league in turn is able to garner more support and interest from the fans, sponsors, so on and so forth,” he said when met at Shopee Malaysia’s headquarters after the sponsorship signing ceremony between MFL and Shopee for the second straight year in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Kevin also stressed that MFL are always working very hard to help the national team by stepping up efforts to bring about a realisation and acknowledgement on the importance of the national agenda at international level specifically towards Malaysia League teams.
“We do not just need support but we also need to always provide support as well. Perhaps MFL can come up with a rule or proposal to accord special privileges but as I said earlier, it is still just a proposal.
“There are many other things that need to be done as well and such a proposal will need the agreement from all the teams. A collective decision has to be reached by MFL and all the teams as well.
"If the majority are supportive and readily release players for national duty, then this proposal could be approved and the special privileges accorded to teams that are readily willing to release their players who are called up for national duty,” added Kevin.