KUALA LUMPUR: Football observer Sadek Mustaffa said he finds it hard to accept FAM's reasons for not getting quality friendly matches for the national team before their World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.
It was reported that FAM couldn't get any foreign national team to play a friendly against Malaysia, leaving the national side to play only a warm-up against Super League strugglers Perak last week.
"This shows a lack of planning from FAM. They have not learned any lesson since Oman. It looks like there's no good connection with the other FAs," said Sadek, a senior lecturer in Sports Science and Recreation at UiTM.
In May, the national team couldn't play any international friendly matches before meeting Oman in World Cup qualifiers. Malaysia ended up losing the doubleheader 2-0 in Muscat and Bukit Jalil.
At that time, FAM said they couldn't arrange any early training camp in the Middle East as some M-League clubs were reluctant to release their players outside the Fifa international calendar.
Last week, FAM revealed that they approached four to five countries for friendlies, but didn't get a response.
Sadek said this has made life harder for national coach Kim Pan Gon whose team have already lost six key players to injuries.
"We know we are going to face tough opponents, but we are very poorly prepared for the match.
"FAM should be held accountable. This is very poor from them as they had a similar problem before the Oman match. They seem to have not learnt from past mistakes, and it has put the national team in a difficult position."
Sadek said losing a large number of key players through injuries, after a comprehensive preseason and only three matches into the Super League, is also baffling.
He said this is frustrating for South Korean Pan Gon who could end up leaving Malaysia after his contract ends next January.
"Pan Gon has proved himself. If he leaves, he will get job offers because he and his coaching staff have done well with the Malaysian team," said Sadek.