Azman Ibrahim
KELANTAN are hoping the FA of Malaysia (FAM) will allow them to register four foreigners for the M-League next season.
FA Cup winners Kelantan believe the move will help them launch a serious assault on the AFC Cup.
Each team will be allowed to sign three foreigners next season but one must be Asian.
However Kelantan and Selangor, who have both qualified for the AFC Cup, are allowed four imports but only three can play in the Super League.
The same rule was applied to them this season but only two were allowed in the league.
Despite the domestic league’s hectic schedule, Kelantan and Selangor made the AFC Cup last-16 stage this season before bowing out to lower ranked teams from Hong Kong and Maldives.
Kelantan manager Azman Ibrahim said the regulation halts progress of Malaysian teams in the AFC Cup.
“We need all our imports to play in the league as it will help them maintain fitness ahead of our AFC Cup campaign,” said Azman recently.
“We had a difficult outing in the recent AFC Cup, as two signings did not get enough matches while the other two played in the domestic league.
“I believe we could have done better and if FAM wants its teams to make an impact on Asian-level competitions, it should be flexible with its rules.”
Kelantan made an unofficial request to the national body before the start of the ongoing season but it was shot down.
The reigning Malaysia Cup champions will officially hand in a written request to FAM soon.
“We hope FAM will grant our request as we are proposing a rotation policy for teams with four foreigners. We will rotate our fourth signing with the others in league matches,” Azman added.
However, FAM is unlikely to grant Kelantan’s request as the move to increase the number of foreigners from two to three was endorsed by its executive committee recently.
FAM’s competitions committee chairman Datuk Affandi Hamzah said: “This decision was discussed at length when the committee was under Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin. Anyway, we will look at the request if it comes.”
No Malaysian team have gone beyond the quarter-finals since the inception of the AFC Cup in 2004.
Only four teams — Perak (2004, 2008), Selangor (2006), Kedah (2008) and Kelantan (2010) — have featured in the quarter-finals. By Ajitpal Singh
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