The wave of debate about the Malaysian team using too many naturalized players continues to flare up, after head coach Peter Cklamovski still called up 15 names in this category for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. The move comes just a few weeks after the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was found by FIFA to have committed fraud in the naturalization records of seven foreign players.
Many veteran figures in the football community of this country have expressed their disappointment. Former player Lim Chan Yew believes that it is wrong to continue to rely on naturalized players at the present time. He said: "Malaysia is still trying to take shortcuts, they have both damaged the image of the national team and lost confidence. Football has no shortcomings.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Azlan Johar - a former Malaysian player, said that coach Cklamovski needs to focus more on domestic human resources: "Mr. Cklamovski needs to go down and review the players himself. Don't expect reports from other departments to show which players are eligible to play for the national team.
If Selangor club chose Faisal Halim as captain, it would mean they trust his performance. Let the local players have the opportunity to prove their abilities.
According to Mr. Azlan Johar, Malaysian football needs to look back after the recent incident: "If what happened is not a bitter lesson, why are we still using naturalized players? There are people whose families are not honest. Please do not tarnish the image of the country anymore. In the upcoming matches, if they lose, I hope the team will also lose properly."
FIFA has previously fined the Swiss FAM 350,000 French (equivalent to about 1.8 million Malaysian ringgit) and banned 7 naturalized players for 12 months, including Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holcado, Imanol Secretariat Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano.
Malaysian public opinion is currently deeply divided on the direction of the team, between the desire to quickly improve performance and the need to rebuild trust from the domestic player platform.
