KUALA LUMPUR – Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin is set to have a heart-to-heart session with national head coach, Kim Pan-gon, to ensure there are no misunderstandings between the gaffer and the governing body.
It has been reported that the 54-year-old South Korean and his coaching staff were on the verge of stepping down after two crushing back-to-back defeats to Oman in the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
However, Pan-gon denied the reports and assured Harimau Malaya fans of his commitment to guiding the team until his contract expires at the end of 2025.
Hamidin said that he’s aware of several players within Pan-gon’s team who tend to be rebellious about the coach’s decisions, and a discussion needs to be held to maintain unity within the team.
“I’m aware of some of the issues happening within the team, and that’s normal in football. My role as president is to step in and ensure that everything goes well in the team by discussing with Pan-gon.
“I also believe that there were a few misunderstandings between me and Pan-gon before the match against Oman in Muscat.
“Pan-gon wanted the boys to play a few matches against football clubs in Oman and also in the United Arab Emirates. However, I wanted the team to play a few international friendlies with countries instead of clubs.
“But at the end of the day, we were unable to bring any countries for friendly matches as it clashed with the FIFA match calendars.
“There was also a time when Pan-gon wanted the Malaysian league to start and end faster so that he could have a larger pool of players for the team.
“But we at FAM were unable to do anything about it as it falls under the jurisdiction of the Malaysian Football League (MFL), and they had already set the match calendars long ago.
“I know that Pan-gon does not misunderstand me, but I still need to have a chat with him to ensure that we are all on the same page,” said Hamidin when met at Dorsett Grand Subang during FAM’s 60th annual congress.
The goal of qualifying for the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, which confirms qualification for the 2027 Asian Cup, is still Pan-gon’s main mission with Malaysia.
After guiding Harimau Malaya to two early wins in the qualifying campaign against Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei, Pan-gon’s men suffered identical 2-0 home and away defeats to Oman.
The losses have jeopardised Malaysia’s chance to advance to the next round of qualifying as the team is currently in third place in Group D with six points.
Kyrgyzstan is tied with Oman on nine points but tops the group by way of a better head-to-head record. – April 1, 2024