FAM President sets goal for Harimau Malaya to reach FIFA top 100

Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan, the newly elected President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), has set ambitious goals for the national football team, Harimau Malaya. His primary objectives are to return the team to the top of the Southeast Asian (ASEAN) rankings and to break into the FIFA top 100 globally.

Speaking at the FAM 100th Anniversary celebration, Ab Ghani emphasized that achieving these targets requires collaboration from all stakeholders in the national football industry. He noted that improving the FIFA ranking is critical for securing better seeding in upcoming World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying draws.

The national team's ranking has seen a significant decline, dropping from 116th in November last year to its current position of 136th. This decline followed issues involving the falsification of documents for seven players, which led to FIFA and AFC nullifying several matches and awarding 0-3 losses to Malaysia. To combat this, Ab Ghani plans to organize international friendly matches to boost the team's standing.