Yesterday (July 16), FAM announced that the Malaysian team will withdraw from the CAFA 2025 tournament, despite the draw. The reason is that the team has not called up naturalized players to participate in the tournament. Because the Central Asian Championship does not coincide with the FIFA Days (national team gatherings according to FIFA's schedule), European and South American clubs are not required to release players.
Malaysia will not participate in CAFA 2025 because it cannot summon naturalized players (Photo: BH Online).
Malaysia is worried that a poor performance in the Central Asian tournament will affect their FIFA ranking. They do not see the tournament as a place for local players to compete, but as a real battle.
The Central Asian Championship brings together many strong teams such as Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman... Refusing to participate in the tournament means that Malaysia misses a great opportunity to meet the top teams in Asia.
Speaking to the press, coach Peter Cklamovski voiced his support for FAM's decision: "We have many players playing in the world's top national championships. Calling them back to play in Tajikistan for a short time and asking them to perform at a high level is impossible.
Coach Peter Cklamovski believes that Malaysia will not enter any tournament without the best squad in hand (Photo: FAM).
“We also have to consider logistics, recovery times and budgets. I never want to put a player’s health at risk, or go into a tournament without the best squad at hand.”
According to some sources, Singapore will replace Malaysia to compete in CAFA 2025. They will be in Group B with Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-malaysia-noi-dieu-bat-ngo-khi-doi-nha-bo-giai-vi-mat-dan-sao-nhap-tich-20250717113614841.htm
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