KUALA LUMPUR: New FA of Malaysia president Datuk Hamidin Amin is keen on a suggestion to find naturalised players for the national team.
Taking a leaf from France's World Cup success, Hamidin believes that giving citizenship to talented players is a good alternative to improving Malaysia's world ranking.
However, Hamidin stressed that the proposal is still in its early stage, and much more needs to be done before it can become a reality.
"This suggestion will be put forward to the national team committee and needs to be fine tuned because it involves our government's commitment as well as the foreign countries we would be dealing with.
"I believe Brazilian and African players would be the best choice if we get into it.
"We also need to hold a discussion with the government as well as the Malaysian Football League because after serving football for a long time, I believe we need to have foreign players to make an impact like the Philippines.
"This has been an idea that I have been thinking about, but still we need to discuss it with the relevant bodies, and it would take a long time to implement.”
FAM have previously given the green light to players with at least one Malaysian parent to represent the country.
Some of the mixed marriage players who have represented Malaysia are Matthew Davies (Pahang), Natxo Insa (JDT), Brendan Gan (Perak) and Khair Jones (Malacca United).