KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The national football squad has withdrawn from the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup set to be held August 29 to September 8.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in a statement announced the decision was made following the change in match dates outside the FIFA international window, posing challenges in terms of logistics, player availability, and overall squad preparation.
“The last-minute change of date poses a challenge to the national squad in all aspects, as clubs are not obliged to release their players.
“This situation directly affects our efforts to form the best squad for the tournament, especially when some of our key players are playing in major leagues such as Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan,” FAM said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski described the decision to withdraw from participating in the CAFA Nations Cup as the right one and the Harimau Malaya squad will focus fully on the training camp ahead of the important matches against Laos and Nepal in October and November.
“We have players who are playing in the world’s leading leagues such as Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan. “To get them to Tajikistan in such a short time and ensure they are ready to perform at the highest level is unrealistic in this window,” he said.
Harimau Malaya is set to meet Laos for a Group F match of the Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers in Laos on October 9 before hosting Laos on October 14.
The national squad will then fly to Nepal for another group stage match on November 18.
— Bernama
