Football

Solomon Islands stun FAM with withdrawal

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian football fans must be thinking that it’s no big deal if Solomon Islands don’t want to come to Kuala Lumpur for a four-nation invitational — the inaugural Airmarine Cup on March 20-23.

After all, when the FA of Malaysia (FAM) announced Solomon Islands’ participation earlier this week, there were raised eyebrows.

“Who are they? Where are they from?” Some fans did some googling.

The bottom line is Solomon Islands, at World No 143, are ranked above Malaysia’s No 167.

And for FAM, that’s good enough to warrant an invitation.

The other two nations competing in the tournament are World No 90 Oman and World No 165 Singapore.

Earlier, FAM had hoped to get World No 119 New Zealand to give some shine to the invitational but the Kiwis turned down the invitation despite showing their interest earlier.

Then the ball was passed over to Solomon Islands, and leading to FAM announcing their participation on Monday this week.

For ProEvents, the promoter who is used to bringing big EPL clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United to Malaysia, bringing in the Solomon Islands should be easy.

But today, the Fifa rules came into play. Throwing a spanner into the competition.

The teams are not allowed to play more than two matches during the Fifa international window from March 18-26.

Now, to the dismay of FAM, the Solomon Islands have decided to forego the Airmarine Cup but continue with their plans to play Taiwan in a friendly on March 24.

“They (Solomon Islands) had a mix-up with their dates.

“They initially agreed as they tried to withdraw from their pre-arranged match (with Taiwan) but they are unable to compete.

“We are in the midst of getting another team, and should be able to confirm within the next 24 hours,” said FAM secretary general Stuart Ramalingam today.

For the Malaysian fans who didn’t find the Solomon Islands appealing enough, the replacement team may even be “worse”.

FAM will try to get a team higher ranked than Malaysia, but if none is available at such short notice, they may have to settle for a team lower than Harimau Malaya.

The Airmarine Cup is supposed to be part of the first move by FAM in their ambitious 12-year F:30 road-map to be Asia’s top five by 2030.

By inviting teams higher ranked than Malaysia to the tournament, FAM hope the Harimau Malaya will get to boost their world ranking with good results against them.

Now, FAM’s plans to organise the Airmarine Cup have hit a bump with the last-minute withdrawal of Solomon Islands.

With less than 18 days to the competition, FAM are scrambling to get a decent team to come in as the fourth participant. And there is no guarantee of quality.

King Solomon would tell you it is wiser to just have a triangular tournament involving Malaysia, Oman and Singapore.

Oman, at World No 90, would be formidable for Malaysia, and a good draw for fans.

As for Singapore, the Causeway rivalry between Harimau Malaya and the Lions is ferocious enough to see a sizeable crowd at the National Stadium.

However, it is learnt that Afghanistan are being lined up as a replacement.

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