By ERIC SAMUEL
PETALING JAYA: National coach B. Sathianathan’s contract will be extended by one-year.
The decision was made by the FA of Malaysia (FAM) president, Sultan Ahmad Shah, after he chaired the national team committee meeting at the Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
The FAM deputy president, Khairy Jamaluddin, said that Sathianathan would be offered an extension based on the fact that the national team had young players with an average age of 24.
“They were given the benefit of the doubt that the national team were still on a rebuilding process,” said Khairy.
The decision came as a surprise to many, including Sathianathan, who had expected an end to his stint as national coach and had sent thank you messages to the media via SMS for their support.
“The decision to retain my services is quite a surprise,” said Sathianathan.
“My immediate task is to get the players back and get cracking for the Asian Cup qualifying rounds next month. I still have confidence in my men ... they have improved a lot over the years and I believe in them.”
Many had expected Sathianathan to get the boot following the national team’s failure to get past the group matches in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup tournament. In Group B matches played in Phuket recently, Malaysia defeated Laos (3-0) but went on to lose matches against Vietnam (2-3) and Thailand (0-3).
Sathianathan, whose contract expires at the end of the month, was given the target to take the team to the final.
Khairy added that the national team committee also felt that with the next important assignment for the national squad coming up soon, it would be difficult to appoint a new coach.
In the Asian Cup qualifying tournament, Malaysia have been drawn in Group C with Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a home-and-away format of competition, Malaysia begin their campaign against UAE at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya on Jan 21. They complete their fixtures in November.
The national team committee have also asked Khairy to head a a sub-committee to evaluate the progress of the national team and the coach from time to time.
The same sub-committee will also make a detailed report from feedback from players and coaches before they plan to make a complete overhaul of the Malaysian football structure.
“There is no marker to gauge the performance of the national team next year. The main assignment is the Laos SEA Games, which is an Under-23 tournament. As such, we expect them to improve on the national rankings and show progress in the qualifying rounds of the Asian Cup,” said Khairy.