KUALA TERENGGANU: The Sports Ministry would make a decision on the controversial Champions Youth Cup (CYC) football tournament issue on Wednesday.
The minister Datuk Sabri Ismail Yaakob (pic) insisted that the tournament had not been called off yet and the contractual issues on hosting it were being studied.
The consensus is that the Under-19 tournament scheduled for August is off following the FA of Malaysia’s (FAM) refusal to sanction it. But Sabri insisted that the tournament could still go on if the organisers, Gifted Group, were able to prove that they had already obtained the FAM blessings for a three-year period beginning 2007.
Gifted signed a three-year contract in 2007 with the Sports Ministry to host the tournament, reportedly at a cost of RM17mil a year. Last year’s tournament was staged in Kedah, Sarawak, Malacca, Pahang and the Klang Valley.
“I was informed by Gifted that they had already obtained the FAM sanction for a three-year period before last year’s tournament,” said Datuk Sabri when paying a visit to the Sukma main media centre at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium here yesterday.
“If Gifted are able to prove to us that they have the required clearance and do not need to seek the FAM approval on a yearly basis, then we can go ahead with the competition.
“We (the ministry) will hold a meeting with Gifted on Tuesday and I am optimistic that the tournament will not be called off. Following the ministerial level meeting, the matter will be brought to the weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday for a decision.”
FAM initially agreed to work with Gifted Group but withdrew their support after finding out that the latter had signed an agreement to allow Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to run the tournament. The national body boycotted the draw for this year’s tournament held on April 29.
Three weeks ago, FAM president, Sultan Ahmad Shah said that the tournament was off because it could not be held in the country without their approval.
The FAM also labelled the CYC as a big waste of public funds and that it brought no benefit to Malaysian football.
Last year’s tournament, won by Manchester United, was played to near-empty stadiums.
The 16-team tournament scheduled for Aug 5-16 involves the national teams of Malaysia, Qatar, India and China and 12 top club sides from Europe and South America. The dates of the tournament clashed with the Beijing Olympics, which begin on Aug 8.
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