THE FA of Malaysia (FAM) are in no hurry to fill the national Under-22 coaching post after they decided not to extend Ong Kim Swee’s contract.
FAM secretary general, Stuart Ramalingam said: ‘If you look at the other nations, what they are doing is utilising the senior team coach to guide their youth teams.’
Does that mean FAM roping in Tan Cheng Hoe, the coach of the senior team team, to help out the national Under-22 team for the team being?
FAM decided to do away with the services of Ong Kim Swee, 48,following Malaysia’s disastrous performance in the ongoing Sea Games. Malaysia lost 3-1 to Cambodia and 1-0 to the Philippines in their group matches in Manila and failed to reach the semi-finals.
As to who will replace Kim Swee, FAM’s response is that they have yet to shortlist anyone.
‘For next year, there will be no major assignments for the national Under-22 squad. Therefore FAM have time to decide on the best course of action,’ said Stuart.
On FAM’s termination of their two-year contract with Kim Swee, Stuart said: ‘We discussed it (about Kim Swee’s contract) with him and although we have decided not to extend his contract, many need to understand that he has been with us for a long time.
‘Many look at him as a coach and he has built a reputation around that but we feel there could be other areas he would be able to help us in.’
It is learnt that once Kim Swee completes his AFC Pro Licence, he will join Sabah as coach.Next season, teams can only hire Pro Licence coaches for the Super League.