The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will need to foot the national U-23 men's squad's expenses for the 2018 Asian Games after they were put under Category B by the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).
It was announced after an OCM committee meeting, which was attended by several national sports associations, regarding Asian Games athletes selection on Monday.
Despite the young Tigers' commendable success at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, which saw them reach the quarter-finals, their group stage exit at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, cost them a Category A spot.
For the record, Category A athletes are fully sponsored, while Category B athletes have to rely on their respective sports associations but any medal sucess will see them get reimbursed.
For the upcoming Games, which will take place in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, from August 18 to September 2, the OCM selected 95 athletes in total for Category A and 60 for Category B.
CATEGORY A
Diving: 12 athletes
Swimming: 3 athletes
Badminton: 14 athletes
Squash: 8 athletes
Silat: 11 athletes
Karate: 5 athletes
Sailing: 11 athletes
Sepaktakraw: 15 athletes
Basketball: 4 athletes
Bowling: 12 athletes
CATEGORY B
Badminton: 6 athletes
Silat: 10 athletes
Football: 20 athletes
Rugby: 12 athletes
Basketball: 12 athletes
Seng Foo Lee
Tue Jun 05 2018
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