AFP, Kuala Lumpur :Hooliganism, match-fixing and humiliation on the field-Malaysia has emerged as Asian football’s problem child, with the country’s most popular sport rapidly becoming a national embarrassment.Unruly fans piled on the disgrace Tuesday, forcing the abandonment of a World Cup qualifying match with Saudi Arabia as smoke-spewing flares flew onto the pitch and around the stands.Sparked by seething anger over a record 10-0 drubbing by UAE the previous week, the outburst crystallised the Malaysian game’s long-running slide into violence, corruption and chaos.Malaysian football experts say the core of the problem is declining play blamed on years of wayward football administration and a failure to develop grassroots talent.But it wasn’t always so.Former colonial masters Britain bequeathed a passion for football, and Malaysia’s “Tigers” were once a source of pride.Stars of club and country were feted as heroes during a 1970s and 1980s “golden era” when Malaysia was able to compete with current Asian giants like Japan, South Korea and Australia, though it never won an Asian Cup or qualified for the World Cup.”We stood in the forefront of football back then. But today we have become the laughing stock of the region,” said Peter Velappan, secretary-general of the Asian Football Confederation from 1978-2007.Malaysia’s national side has plummeted to 169 in FIFA’s world rankings, one spot higher than its all-time low hit in 2008, and behind tiny East Timor (163) and Bhutan (164).The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is now reaping decades of failure to build youth-development programmes and the loss of playing fields to the bulldozers of development, said former football officials, coaches, and leading sportswriters.”We used to have very good state leagues, which encouraged football among the youngsters. But diminishing fields have resulted in local leagues experiencing a slow death,” said veteran sports journalist Tony Mariadass.Malaysia’s political and economic wheels are greased by connections, patronage, and outright cronyism.Velappan says this has leeched into football, with politics trumping professionalism in administrative, leadership and player decisions.
