BAN ON IMPORTS WILL CHANGE MALAYSIA FOOTBALL LANDSCAPE

The controversial decision by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) banning foreign players from the Malaysian League next season will change the football landscape.So what can the football fans expect next season. Can the local players fill the vacuum left by the foreign players or imports in the goal scoring department?Will main contenders Kedah, Perak and Selangor which had been dependent on the imports for goals maintain the same level of standard now that they will not be around.The contribution of the imports had been enormous and the record speaks for itself. The top four strikers in the Super League were imports.Golden Boot winner Marlon Alex James of Kedah led the charts with 23 goals followed by Carlos Caceres of Perak (17), Frank Seator of Selangor (15) and Walter Ariel Silva of Johor FC (14).Malaysia's best player was Mohd Khalid Jamlus of Perak with 13 goals who came in fifth.It was the same story for the Premier League where the imports showed they were a cut above the locals.Mouhamodou Moustapha of Kelantan led with 27 goals followed by Otelo Ocampos Espinola of Johor Pasir Gudang (23), Alex Agbo of KL Plus (19).Home-grown Liew Kit Kong of Kuala Muda NAZA came in third (16 goals).Kedah's James also dominated the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup competitions scoring 10 and 15 goals respectively.Imports made their presence felt in Malaysia with the introduction of the Semi-Pro League in 1989.Except for 2004 when Indra Putra Mahayuddin of Pahang won the Golden Boot with 15 goals, the imports never failed to lead the goalscoring chart.Julio Cesar Rodrigues of Sabah (18), Zacharia Simukonda of Perlis (18) and Keita Mandjou of Perak (17) were the fans favourties in 2005, 2006 and 2007.The imports also lighted up the Premier League with Marin Mikac of UPB-MyTeam (13) and Gustavo Fuentes of Melaka (18) leading the way.FAM local competitions committee chairman Datuk Che Mat Jusoh said the decision to ban imports was for the development of Malaysian football as local players found it hard to shine against the imports."Without the imports next season, the fans can really evaluate the standard of Malaysian footballers," he told Bernama.Che Mat said teams which put up fine displays will draw fans to fill the stadiums and this will augur well for the future of Malaysian football.He said the imports' presence was of little help to Malaysian football as some lacked quality and caused a drain on the teams' resources."Some of those plying their trade in Malaysia are past their best and cannot make it to the major football leagues in Europe," said the FAM vice president.Other than the ban on imports, the last season also saw FAM bogged with match-fixing allegations by players and the failure of several football associations to pay players' wages and contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
- BERNAMA -