The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) hinted that more foreign players could be following Gambian-born Mohamadou Sumareh's footsteps in playing for the Malaysia national football team.
After acquiring his Malaysian citizenship in July last year, the Pahang winger went on to make his international debut against Sri Lanka three months later and star in the Harimau Malaya's run to the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup final, where they lost to Vietnam.
The topic of naturalising more players for the national team was brought up during Tuesday's press conference announcing Tan Cheng Hoe's contract renewal as the Harimau Malaya's head coach.
"It is one of the factors we have discussed to help improve the quality of players on the national team.
"If we look at the Asian level, we will need more quality players to compete and get a faster result. Many countries have been using the naturalisation model, so we do not want to get left behind.
"We are looking at the possibility of naturalising some of the players who have played in Malaysia for three, four years because one of the naturalisation requirements is to live in the country for five years, but obviously the process will take time.
"It is also not something easy or being done on a whim because we are giving citizenship to these players.
"We want players who are sincere about playing for the country and not just to get the citizenship," said FAM deputy president Yusoff Mahadi.
He also added that the FAM would like to get foreign-born Malaysian players similar to Brendan Gan, Matthew Davies and La'Vere Corbin-Ong to play for the national team.
As for Tan, who handed Sumareh his international debut, he had no qualms on having more foreign-born players on the national team.
"What's important is the naturalised players can adapt to our playing style and cultures and gel with local players.
"Their attitude is also crucial because they will be representing the country," said the national head coach.
Seng Foo Lee
Tue Jan 08 2019
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