'Most of the Malaysian players are domestic players'

Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh affirmed that the national football teams are not "covered" by naturalized players, as most of the current members are natives.

Malaysia still has many impressive domestic players.

Speaking before the National Assembly during the 2026 budget discussion, Ms. Hannah said the national team currently has 7 players of mixed or foreign origin, while the U23 team has only 1 player. In the younger teams such as U19 and U17, all players are Malaysian. For the women's team, there is only 1 mixed-race player in the main squad, the rest are born in the country.

“People often think we depend on naturalized players, but that is not true. The data shows that domestic players are still given fair opportunities,” she said.

The Minister emphasized that using naturalized players is only a supplementary solution and does not take away opportunities for young domestic talents. She also rejected the view that this weakens the basic training system.

In the same speech, Hannah mentioned the Mokhtar Dahari Academy and the plan to transfer the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) back to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). According to her, the AFC is conducting a review, and having FAM take the lead is “natural” for the long-term development of youth football.

Established in 2014, NFDP was considered a launching pad for many young Malaysian talents, contributing to providing strength for national teams at all levels.

In addition, Ms. Hannah also said that Sports Toto company still fulfills its financial obligations to sports , but illegal online betting is significantly reducing revenue for the state and Malaysian sports.

Source: https://znews.vn/da-so-tuyen-thu-malaysia-la-cau-thu-noi-post1598574.html