Monday, September 8, 2008

Commonsense Has Never Been FAM's Forte

Subang Jaya.
Here's a fact that should surprise no one. Malaysian football is in doldrums. Nobody really cares - not the fans,who have been staying away, not the sponsors, and what the hell, not even the keepers of the nation's football, FAM.

Yes, not even FAM. Why else would the FAM choose to hold their prized tournament - the Malaysia Cup final - on Aug 23, the punultimate day of the Beijing Olympics, when everyone was watching the USA final winninng relays - in the 4X400m.

The Malaysia Cup is the football tournament in Malaysia. It was highly regarded by fans and players alike. The stadiums that hoosted the final were packed to the brim. Fans aroumd the country were glued to the TV watching the match. In early days, fans had transistor radios up against their ears as excited commentators shouted out the proceedings.

The Malaysia Cup was the English Premier Leagues FA Cup. The malaysia Cup has History. It dates back to 1921. Some of the biggest names in Malaysia/Singapores football have the coveted Cup over the years. And it is still the most coveted and cherished Cup in the country. The newspapaer used to lap up the Malaysia Cup final, with three, four and sometimes even five pages in the run-up to the final.

The final itself was a back page lead event. But not this year. With the Beijing Olympics now acknowledge as the greatest games ever, going on, the Cup final was a non event. The FAM could have, in fact should have been more receptive to the happenings around the world. Couldn't they have put off the final day by a week ? That would have given the media ample time, space and oppurtunity to buildup the Cup final fever to a crescendo. But who are we kidding ? The FAM obviously think they have a product that's bigger than anything, the Olympics, The World Cup or even the European Championship.

The FA Cup this year was held during the Euros while the Malaysia Cup was held during the World Cup in Japan-South Korea. The FAM of course, have no need for the media to raise the profile of their product. It wasn't just the Malaysia Cup final. The National Football Awards, sponsored by 100Plus, to honiour players who made their mark in the Malaysian League-encompassing the Super League, FA Cup and Malaysia Cup, this season was held just hours before the Cup final. And what about the sponsors? All that money. All that effort. and they got next to no mileage in the newspaper as the country and the world were tuned to Beijing.

Held at any other time, the occasion would have garnered much wider coverage. As if having the award ceremony and Cup final on the FAM congress was also held on the same day. The press had always had access to the FAM Congress. This time, they were shut out. The world was not to know about what was going on in the FAM.

In fact, no one can figure out what is going on in the FAM. The logic and sense of timing boggles the mind. Commonsense dictates that the best course of action would have been to postpone the Cup final. But since when was commonsense a forte of FAM ? If it was, Malaysian football wouldn't be in the doldrums, would it? At their height, Malaysia were ranked n0. 79 in the world in 1993. Now, we are No 161 - below even the likes of Maldives, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Hong Kong. There are (204) teams in the listing. We have some 40 places to go before hitting the rock bottom.