KUALA LUMPUR: FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Amin has denied critics' claims that the national association is "cash-rich" and does not need government's help.
Earlier former FAM treasurer Tan Sri Mohamad Noor Abdul Rahim had also said that FAM should not get funding from the government as it has enough money.
The issue of whether taxpayers' money should be used to help FAM carry out its programmes cropped up after Fifa
It was reported that FAM received around US$7.6 million (RM35 million) through Fifa's Forward Development Programme from 2016 to 2022. This comes after the world body released its Fifa Forward Programme report.
However, Hamidin clarified that the US$7.6 million grant from Fifa is insufficient as it is spread over six years.
"This allocation from Fifa is a grant given to all the affiliates. If you divide the figure over six years, it's not much.
"We also had used the funds to install an artificial pitch, re-turf the pitch and the futsal court.
"The expenditures of a football team are not cheap, we are spending money on the national senior team, women's team, futsal and youth teams. For example, the cost to fly a team out for competitions is not cheap.
"To elevate the level of the teams, we have brought foreign coaches who need high funds. To be honest, what we get from Fifa is not enough but we have sponsors and partners, and they help to reduce the financial stress.
"We hope we can get more sponsors or partners to come onboard with us so we can have more funding to elevate the national team's standard with better coaches and infrastructure," said Hamidin.
Meanwhile Hamidin said he hopes that the national team can make last 16 in the Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar, next month.
Hamidin said it would be a remarkable achievement if Harimau Malaya, who qualified on merit for the Asian Cup after 42 years, can reach the last 16.
However, the FAM boss admitted that Malaysia, who are the lowest ranked team in their group, face an uphill task.
World No. l30 Malaysia will play No. 87 Jordan on Jan 15, No. 86 Bahrain on Jan 20 and No. 23 South Korea on Jan 25 in Group E.
"We have high hopes… if we can get into the last 16 is good enough, but we must be realistic and know that the 24 teams competing are the best," said Hamidin.