KUALA LUMPUR: A disappointed Jiwa Mohan has urged the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to setup a special task force to unearth the next generation of talented players to represent Malaysia.
The Olympian and former world cupper said that it saddened him to see the national team failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The squad failed to reach the semi-finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Muscat, Oman earlier this week.
"It has been too long since we last played in the Olympics - 24 years - and we will now have to wait until the 2028 Los Angeles games for our next chance," said Jiwa today.
"Malaysia should not have lost to lower-ranked China (3-2) in Oman.
"And despite losing 4-1 to Great Britain, they had ample opportunity to beat Pakistan and qualify for the semi-finals.
"They took the lead three times but ended up drawing 3-3 with Pakistan and blew their chance.
"A post mortem needs to be done now to understand why we keep failing to qualify for the Olympics.
"We need to find a new method which can help produce more quality players.
"MHC must setup a special task force to look for a new generation of quality players. Malaysia has a lot of talented players but we need to polish their game."
Jiwa runs three hockey academies in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Selangor with roughly 400 players.
He said that it will take time to rebuild a strong national team.
"It may take eight to 12 years to build a solid team that can challenge the top countries in the world," said Jiwa.
"Look at Argentina. They have improved a lot because they have 30 to 40 players who are playing for top clubs in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium for many years.
"To have a solid national team, MHC must also send players for long term attachments with European clubs. Hockey is now dominated by European teams.
"This will require a huge investment by MHC. The good thing is that hockey gets good support from the government and MHC should work closely with the Sports Ministry.
"All this, however, requires proper planning and development by the special task force. It will take almost 10 years (to see results) but it is better late than never."
Jiwa was part of the national team that competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Malaysia has not qualified for the event since then.