KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government is expected to provide a bigger allocation to the Sabah football team in efforts to promote and develop football in the state.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman who is also the Sabah Football Association (SAFA) president said though a bigger allocation was provided the performance of the Sabah team has not been satisfactory.
To strengthen the team is not an easy task because every year it is becoming more and more challenging, especially so when first choice players suffer injuries that can prevent them from playing throughout the season.
“SAFA’s expenses is in the region of RM7 to RM8 million a year. We spend a lot of money but many people do not know the initiative taken by the state government to help improve the performance of the team,” he said during a question and answer session in the Sabah state assembly, here today.
Musa who is also the Sungai Sibuga state assemblyman was answering a question from Limus Jury (BN-Kuala Penyu) who wanted to know if SAFA plans to follow in the footsteps of Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).
The Chief Minister said everyone, including members of the opposition, can contribute ideas to beef up the state football team.
“We do not have any problem in accepting feedback, views or recommendations from anyone, including the opposition because our goal is the same, that of to see Sabah’s football standards improve,” he said when answering a question from Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin (PKR-Klias).
Meanwhile, Sabah Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan said the ministry through SAFA had initiated various programmes to unearth talented footballers in the state.
He said the development of coaches has also been intensified through coaching courses conducted at district level and to date all 26 SAFA districts have a team of coaches who have the ability to coach players at their respective districts.-Bernama