Clubs hope more locals will claim starting spots after reduction in imports
In the recent Board of Directors (BoD) meeting, MFL decided to amend the 2025-2026 Malaysia League manual, reducing the number of foreign players allowed on the field to six - down from the previously announced seven.
According to the latest amendments, the new foreign player quota of six will consist of four open slots together with one Asian and one South-East Asian, and three foreigners on the bench..
For Negri Sembilan chief executive officer Faliq Firdaus, the decision is a strategic move to strike a balance between maintaining the league's competitiveness and creating greater space for the development of local talent.
However, he stressed that local players given this chance should not merely be space-fillers. They must prove their quality on the pitch to make the most of the opportunity that comes with this reduction in foreign player slots.
'With six foreign players allowed on the field, the main challenge is ensuring local players don't just become quota fillers. They need to compete on merit and be placed in a technical environment that is educational and challenging,' he said.
'Without serious investment in local player development, reducing one foreign slot won't have a significant impact.
'At Negri, we're committed to giving opportunities to local players who demonstrate a competitive mentality. We don't want them in the starting eleven just because there's space. We want them there because they've earned it.''
Terengganu interim chief executive officer Shahrizan Mohd Zain echoed the same sentiment, saying the revised rule aligns with the club's plans to promote local players, especially the younger ones.
'Naturally, with fewer foreign players, there's a bonus for local players to grab the opportunity to be in the starting eleven. Our planning has been smooth so far to ensure a good balance between imports and locals moving forward,' he said.
'So far, we've announced four new imports – Junior Ngong Sam (Cameroon), Yan Mabella (France), Gabriel Costa (Brazil), and Raianderson da Costa (Brazil), and we've retained Nurillo Tukhtasinov (Uzbekistan). One more will be added soon, bringing our total to six imports.'
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