Malaysia's withdrawal from Cafa Nations Cup disrupts tournament plans

Free Malaysia Today

a day ago

FAM said Harimau Malaya were pulling out of the Cafa Nations Cup 2025 following recent changes to the tournament schedule now falling slightly outside the official Fifa international window. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA : The Central Asian Football Association said the Football Association of Malaysia's decision to pull out of next month's Cafa Nations Cup 2025 has disrupted the tournament, particularly given the advanced stage of planning and preparations.
Cafa said Malaysia's participation at the Aug 29-Sept 8 tournament in Tajikistan was confirmed well in advance, with FAM also fully aware of the tournament dates and schedule.
'Those dates have never been changed from the beginning,' it said in a statement.
It said that while FAM was concerned about the restricted release of players from club duties as the competition does not fully fall within the Fifa international match calendar, the final registration of players, selected from a preliminary list of 35, can be submitted on a match-by-match basis.
'This allows for maximum flexibility, including the possibility of key players joining the team for subsequent matches,' it said.
Earlier today, FAM said Harimau Malaya were pulling out of the Cafa Nations Cup following recent changes to the tournament schedule now falling slightly outside the official Fifa international window.
It said this had brought about 'significant challenges' that affect player availability, logistics, and overall performance readiness.
'The latest tournament dates, which were updated after the official draw, now fall outside the official Fifa calendar. This means clubs are not obligated to release players.
'For Malaysia, with key players based in countries like Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan, this presents a major obstacle to assembling a full-strength squad,' FAM said.
Malaysia were to open their Group B campaign against Tajikistan on Aug 29, followed by Iran on Sept 1, and Afghanistan on Sept 4, with all three matches taking place in Dushanbe.
Group A will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, featuring four other teams – hosts Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan and Oman.
In a separate statement, Harimau Malaya coach Peter Cklamovski said getting the squad's foreign-based players to Tajikistan in time to perform at the level required was not realistic under the current window.
'Then there's the impact on logistics, recovery, and budget. I would never want to compromise our players' wellbeing or go into a tournament not at full-strength,' he said.
'Beyond player release challenges, the long-haul travel, compressed match schedule, and increased operational cost, especially under Fifa's 72-hour mandatory recovery rule, added further strain to our ability to compete with quality and consistency.'
He said the national team will instead regroup for a full training camp in Kuala Lumpur in September which will serve as a key step in their preparation for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Malaysia will continue their remaining 2027 Asian Cup Group F qualifiers against Laos in Vientiane on Oct 9 and Kuala Lumpur on Oct 14, before meeting Nepal in Kathmandu on Nov 18 and Vietnam away in March next year.
Malaysia currently top the four-team Group F with three wins from as many matches.