KUALA LUMPUR: It seems the teamwork between the FA of Malaysia (FAM) and the Sports Ministry needs to be better.
The communication between the two parties, or lack of it, has come into focus after Deputy Sports Minister Adam Adli "offered" a venue for the 2026 World Cup qualifier between Palestine and Australia on Nov 21.
On X, Adam tweeted yesterday: "We have been in touch with the Palestinian Embassy this evening (Thursday) and made our offer to host the match between Palestine and Australia at the KL Stadium, Bandar Tun Razak, next month."
Earlier, the Asian Football Confederation had turned down Palestine's request to play the match in Algeria, citing it being a different continent with unknown facilities and players' welfare.
The Asian body will name a neutral Asian venue by Oct 25.
However, Adam's venue proposal was not formally brought up to FAM. As things are, the national body themselves are busy sorting out the National Stadium pitch which became a controversial issue - after chunks of grass came loose during the recent Merdeka Tournament.
FAM secretary general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman said they are aware of the "offer" that was made for the Australia-Palestine match.
He said: "This is something that we will discuss. We saw Adam's post last night and we will discuss the matter."
Separately, Azman said the National Stadium will remain as the venue for Malaysia's World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan on Nov 16.
If the visiting team Kyrgyzstan complain about the pitch, Azman said FAM will look at alternative venues.