KUALA LUMPUR – The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) says it takes full responsibility for the failure of Harimau Malaya to qualify for the semi-finals of the ASEAN Football Federation Cup (AFF) 2020 in Singapore.
In a statement today, FAM said its president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin had instructed the national squad management to submit a complete report on the team’s performance throughout the championship campaign to the management committee soon.
According to the statement, FAM secretary-general Mohd Saifuddin Abu Bakar said the report will be studied by the national team management committee before it is tabled to the FAM Executive Committee.
The national squad under head coach Tan Cheng Hoe failed to advance to the knockout stages after finishing Group B in third place behind Indonesia and defending champions Vietnam.
Malaysia, which went through a short and challenging phase of preparation in terms of player availability, started the campaign with excellence when they recorded a victory over Cambodia 3-1 and Laos 4-0, but lost at the hands of defending champions Vietnam 0-2 and Indonesia 1-4.
The disappointing achievement saw Harimau Malaya who were the runners-up in the 2018 edition failed to reach the target set by FAM by qualifying for the finals.
