2011 FIFA U20 WORLD CUP TARGET FOR MALAYSIA

The Minister of Education League Cup (MELC), considered the biggest ever initiative to develop football in Malaysian schools, will be staged for a second successive season this year.

The second season of the MELC was recently launched by Dato’ Haji Alimuddin Haji Mohd Dom, the Director General of Education Malaysia.

Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad, General Secretary of the FAM, Dato Kamal Harun, the National Corporate Affairs Manager of F&N Coca-Cola (M) Sdn Bhd and Chris Ng, Country Marketing Head, Regional Office of Fraser & Neave (Singapore) Pte Ltd were also in attendance at the launch.

“The players which we have selected have played in the MELC Under-14 last year. So this year, they will continue to play in the Under-17 division,” said Dato’ Alimuddin.

“We will be working very closely with the FAM on this target for the 2011 FIFA U20 World Cup where we hope that we can forge a strong squad for the qualifiers.”

The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the eighteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called FIFA World Youth Championship).

It will be hosted by Colombia, following FIFA’s official announcement on 27 May 2008.

The states participating in the MELC are represented by schools that have already been pre-identified by the Ministry of Education as football centres.

The best players from the states are placed in each of these boarding schools.

“This programme was launched last year and was a huge success. For the first time, youngsters in schools were involved in such a league. Having this sort of exposure at this young age will help the players develop into top class professionals who will represent the country in the future,” said Dato’ Kamal.

Apart from 100PLUS, Malaysia’s number one isotonic beverage, the MELC is organised by the Malaysian Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Sports Council and the FAM.

PIC (From left): Chris Ng, Country Marketing Head, Regional Office of Fraser & Neave (Singapore) Pte Ltd; Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad, General Secretary of the FAM; Dato Kamal Harun, the National Corporate Affairs Manager of F&N Coca-Cola (M) Sdn Bhd and Dato’ Haji Alimuddin Haji Mohd Dom, the Director General of Education Malaysia.