KUALA LUMPUR – Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has pledged to give extra emphasis to the development of young footballers through the National Football Development Programme (NFDP).
In a written response to a question posed by Kangar MP, Tuan Zakri Hassan, Hannah said that the ministry is currently expanding academies and training centres through collaborations with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the National Sports Council (NSC).
“Through our collaboration with FAM and NSC, we are making additional efforts to expand academies and training centres for young footballers aged 7 to 17 years old.
“The ongoing development programme will focus on nine initiatives that the ministry is currently working on,” read the reply.
The initiatives include women’s football programmes, the establishment of zone-level academies, the empowerment of football coaches, comprehensive grassroots programmes, systematic and competitive football tournaments, an emphasis on sports science, identifying talents at every level, guidance for footballers’ career paths, and the involvement of parents in footballers’ education.
Hannah also said that the ministry plans to establish more academies in Johor and has plans to expand centres in Sabah and Sarawak.
“By the year 2024, the NFDP will be establishing academies in the southern zone, primarily at Tunku Sports School Mahkota Ismail and we will continue our efforts in Sabah and Sarawak from 2025 to 2030,” her response read.
Established in 2011, the NFDP is an ongoing programme aimed at improving the quality of national football players by providing training from the grassroots level.
The programme was initiated by the late Sultan Ahmad Shah, then FAM president, back in 2009 with the objective of offering consistent and higher-quality football training to children nationwide and establishing a talent pool in line with the development practices of top footballing nations. – October 10, 2023