National junior league to kick off

By ERIC SAMUEL

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Education (KPM) in collaboration with the FA of Malaysia (FAM) will start the first national football league for schools. The best school teams from the 14 states will compete in two age groups tournament – the Under-14 and Under-17 leagues.

The Under-14 league for the Minister of Education Cup will include the Bandar Penawar Sports School from Johor while the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) will be involved in the KPM-FAM Under-17 youth league.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said at the launch of the leagues that they were serious in their bid to develop the game at the grassroots. “We want to provide the junior players an early start to competitive football,” said Hishammuddin. “This national football league for schools would be a continuous effort by the Ministry to bring about a more comprehensive form of competition for the boys.” He said the competition would provide them an avenue to keep tabs on the promising talents who could play at the Asean and Asian schools tournament.

The annual national junior football league for the Under-14 and 17 age groups will kick off next week and will be played over five months from April to August.

Hishammuddin said the FAM would provide the technical support in organising the league by providing referees and other assistance. The schools chosen would field two teams – one for the Under-14 and another for the Under-17 age groups.

The school teams participating are SMK Syed Hassan, Kangar (Perlis), SMK Tunku Anum Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jitra (Kedah). SMK Mutiara Impian, Seberang Prai (Penang), SMK Clifford, K. Kangsar (Perak), SMK Section 11, Shah Alam (Selangor), SMK Seberang Temerloh (Pahang), SMK Datuk Abdullah, Rembau (N. Sembilan), SMK Dato Dol Said, Alor Gajah (Malacca), SMK Tasek Utara (Johor), SMK Putera, K. Baru (Kelantan), SMK Bukit Nenas, Setiu (Terengganu), SMK Keningau II (Sabah), SMK Tabuan Jaya, Kuching (Sarawak), SMK Raja Abdullah, Kepong (K. Lumpur).

FAM general secretary Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad said it was a good move by the KPM to initiate the national football league for schools and the FAM would also be planning along the same line to organise junior leagues for the lower age groups.

100PLUS, the nation’s number one isotonic drink and strong supporter of sports development programmes, has agreed to a sponsorship deal worth almost RM1mil with the Ministry of Education.

Source : The STAR

Comment : This would be better than sending a couple of player overseas or organising competition/tournament which incurred two figures millions Ringgit Malaysia of "rights fees", thats what some of them thought .........

Star-studded Chelsea’s date in KL is set for July 29

By AFTAR SINGH

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian football fans will get to watch a star-studded Chelsea first team live in action in Kuala Lumpur.

Chelsea, who will be in Asia for pre-season tour, are scheduled to play against Malaysia on July 29 after a match in China on July 23.

ProEvents are the promoters of the Chelsea tour and their CEO, Julian Kam, said yesterday: “I am sure that many football fans not only in Malaysia but also those from neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and even those in Australia, will welcome this great opportunity to see The Blues in action.”

Chelsea are one the big four clubs in England who are still in the running for double honours this season – the English Premier League and Champions League titles.
“We wish Chelsea all the best in the final stages of the EPL and Champions League and hope that they will come to Asia as champions of both tournaments,'' said Julian.

The chief executive of Chelsea, Peter Kenyon, said that besides the match in Malaysia, they would also host Malaysian national coach B. Sathiananthan for about 10 days at Stamford Bridge in early August.

“I believe this will benefit both parties and may pave the way for other such programmes in future between Malaysia and Chelsea.

“This also underlines Chelsea's commitment to develop football in Asia,'' he said.

The FA of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president, Khairy Jamaluddin, said that national team will feature in the match against Chelsea.

“It will be a good experience for the national players in preparation for the Merdeka Tournament in September,'' he said.

Source : The STAR

By the way is it worth it to get Ian Rush to conduct a "striking clinic" for three days? My friend were saying, It was just like studying a video footage .......

AFC Cup Flop and KJ

Tuesday, 18 March 2008, shown another proves that not only the Malaysia’s national was far below the standard of today’s football but also the club team. Two Malaysian representative clubs (Kedah and Perak) were humiliated and humbled by big margins (1-5 and 1-6 respectively) by two Singapore’s team (ya….right … Singapore) in the AFC Cup group matches.

It was once said that Malaysian players were more dedicated and spirited to play at club level than the national team but the results were clearly shown that they are facing a real “standard crisis” instead of commitments.

In the other development, Khairy Jamaludin (KJ) was not appointed as minister which means that he will still be with FAM. He also pledged that he will not be accepting any offer to be a minister as long as his farther-in-law (the PM, of course) is still a PM.

Let see, what he can do……………… (Remember: the coming AFF Cup is his Key Performance Indicator (KPI))…..)