CHANGE IN FAM LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO ENSURE CONTINUITY, DIRECTION - HANNAH

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh stressed the importance of continuity and effectiveness in the new leadership of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), following Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin's decision not to defend his presidency of the governing body.

Hannah said that although change is common in the world of sports, it needs to be planned way so as not to affect existing plans.

"I see that change in sports is a normal thing, but I need to have continuity, which means that the old leadership leaves, the new leadership must have sustainability.

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"So I don't want any plans to be disrupted," she said after launching the Datuk Chu Ah Nge International Junior Football Championship at the Royal Selangor Club-Kiara Sports Annexe here today.

She was asked to comment on the decision made by Hamidin as well as the new structure for the national team and the national youth squad, which is expected to be announced in the near future.

Commenting further, Hannah voiced her hope that FAM would continue to commit to making positive changes and maintain good performance in order to achieve the target of improving the quality of national football.

"Because the government's support announced by the prime minister is to see Harimau Malaya increasingly improve. So the change is okay, we just have to make sure that the change will bring good results," she added.

Hannah also informed that Hamidin has not had a meeting with her as planned, but she respected the decision because she believes that he had his own reasons for not contesting again.

On Wednesday, Hamidin, who has been in FAM's number one seat since July 2018 (for six and-a-half years), announced his decision not to defend his position at the FAM Congress election for the 2025-2029 term scheduled to take place on Feb 15, 2025.

He made the decision because he wanted to make way for a new leader to push FAM to a higher level.

Meanwhile, Hannah praised the organisation of the 18th Datuk Chu Ah Nge International Youth Football Championship after successfully bringing together 120 teams including from overseas such as Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and the Maldives.

"Every time I come to a tournament here, there are more than 1,000 participants, so it's very organic. For a club-level competition, children are exposed to international action, this is a good thing. I want to see how KBS (Ministry of Youth and Sports) can support efforts like this," she said.

-- BERNAMA