ASEAN– Kim Pan Gon, Malaysia’s national head coach, has characterized himself as a’small’ coach after his team ended a 42-year struggle to qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup on merit last night. Pan Gon said that the Harimau Malaya squad’s historic victory was not due to him alone, but rather to all parties’ support in growing the country’s football. “I’m …

China – Officials in the sport of football said on Saturday that China has withdrawn from bidding to host the 2023 Asian Cup owing to the coronavirus. Beijing’s strict zero-COVID approach has dealt another blow to the country’s athletic goals. Millions of people in Shanghai have been subjected to stringent regulations for more than a month now as part of …

ASEAN – Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, a national football prodigy, feels that good communication among the current national Under 23 (U-23) group might lead to a gold medal at the South East Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. After multiple prior friendly matches, he claimed the team, coached by Brad Maloney, had developed a strong understanding among themselves, giving them an …

Malaysia – The Malaysian Football League (M-League) has announced that teams will no longer be permitted to postpone matches if their players or officials have been proven Covid-19 positive. According to MFL CEO Stuart Ramalingam, this is part of a new standard operating procedure (SOP) designed to guarantee the seamless operation of M-League 2022. He added the MFL has postponed …

Malaysia – In principle, the government has agreed to allow Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) to negotiate with the agent chosen by FIFA to gain broadcasting rights for the 2022 World Cup. Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, said the outcome of the negotiations will be known shortly. “InsyaAllah, we need a little more time to finalize it …

Philippines – The Philippine women’s football team made history as it clinched the country’s first FIFA World Cup berth after outlasting Chinese Taipei on penalties, 4-3, following a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinal stage of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 on Sunday, January 30, at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India. Sarina Bolden scored the winning …

Malaysia – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob remarked that Chelsea of the English Premier League and the Vietnamese national team are the best model for football supremacy, and that Malaysia should learn from them and follow suit. Both have a fantastic academy, strong grassroots, and have created a sustainable footballing environment that should be the envy of all footballing …

ASEAN – In a record-breaking sixth time, Thailand has won the ASEAN Football Federation Championship or AFF Cup. Indonesia held ‘The Elephants’ to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the Asian Cup finals at the Singapore National Stadium tonight, but the team from Malaysia, who smashed ‘The Garuda’ 4-0 in the first leg on Wednesday (Dec 29), won …

ASEAN – As part of a countrywide charity initiative, students from 139 local schools around Malaysia may now follow their football dreams. The newly created initiative, called “Asian Games Football Dream School — Malaysia Live Your Dream,” is a collaboration between the 19th Asian Games Organizing Committee and the Malaysia-China Education Association (EAMC). The initiative, which was jointly established with …

Thailand – For a team that won the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship five times and made the final eight times, any finish outside the top two will be regarded as a failure by Thailand. After being knocked out in the semi-finals in the last edition in 2018, the War Elephants are bringing their big guns – including overseas-based players …