KUALA LUMPUR – Former national striker Datuk Hassan Sani applauds the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) decision to not jump on the bandwagon of hosting the 2034 World Cup.
His response came after a recent report from Reuters, which stated that Erick Thohir, the president of Indonesia’s football federation PSSI, said that Malaysia expressed interest in co-hosting the 2034 World Cup alongside Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.
FAM has denied ever confirming its participation in the bid.
Hassan, who made 30 appearances and scored 14 goals for Malaysia between 1978 and 1986, believes that Malaysia has a long way to go before being able to compete in the quadrennial football tournament.
“FAM has made a wise move by not entertaining these claims. Our time to host the World Cup has not yet arrived, as we need to focus heavily on our football development and infrastructure.
“Hosting the World Cup is not easy and requires a significant amount of funding, which we currently lack.
“Personally, I believe that Arab countries, as well as South Korea and Japan, are more capable of hosting the World Cup in Asia.
“Qatar has proven its ability to host the tournament well, and I believe Saudi Arabia should be given the chance to host the 2034 edition,” said Hassan.
Echoing Hassan, former defender Datuk Santokh Singh also believes that Malaysia is nowhere near ready to host the World Cup.
Santokh, who played a significant role in Malaysia’s qualification for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, added that the country has never been consistent in hosting its own international tournament – Pestabola Merdeka.
“We can’t even host the Merdeka Tournament regularly, so it’s absurd to hope that we can host the World Cup.
“Our football players should strive to qualify for the World Cup based on merit, rather than hoping for an automatic qualification spot.
“Looking at our current form, we won’t even be able to qualify for the Olympics. I have a strong feeling that we will struggle in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup in January.
Meanwhile, former Malaysian footballer Hairuddin Omar, popularly known as Hai-O among local football fans, believes that the national team have shown improvement under the guidance of head coach Kim Pan-gon and hopes to see Malaysia competing in the prestigious World Cup tournament in the future.
“The squad has been impressive under coach Pan-gon’s leadership since day one.
“I also want to highlight that the standards of our football have increased since the Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (TMJ), entered the footballing scene with Johor Darul Ta’zim.
“We all have hopes of seeing Malaysia play in the World Cup someday, and with more individuals like TMJ involved in the football scene, our dreams of participation can become achievable,” said Hairuddin.
This year, Malaysia’s participation in an international football tournament will be solely based on the Merdeka tournament, which kicked off on Friday and is scheduled to end on October 17 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The 42nd edition of the tournament features Malaysia, India, and Tajikistan.
Palestine, who were supposed to participate in this year’s tournament, had to withdraw due to the ongoing conflict with Israel. – October 15, 2023