Khairy maintains stand to cooperate with FAM on NFDP

"We will give our best cooperation to FAM," stressed Youth and Sports Minister when asked about the status of the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) Thursday.

He said he was confident the cooperation between the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) under the new leadership of Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, and NFDP, would provide a positive impact on football development in the country.

He said this after launching the bidding process for 'Rimau' vehicle registration numbers at his ministry here Thursday.

Tunku Ismail who is also the Tunku Mahkota of Johor and owner of Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) after being confirmed as the FAM president on March 25, stated that all football programmes at the grassroots level including NFDP must be managed by coalition members and not the Youth and Sports Ministry.

In fact, he said it was the responsibility of FAM to manage and supervise whatever programmes involving football in the country without the interference of other organisations.

On Monday, when questioned on the views of Tunku Ismail to place NFDP under FAM, Khairy said KBS was prepared to work together with FAM for the development of national football.

For the record, NFDP, which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on April 10, was a youth football development programme for those between seven and 17 years, and approved by the Cabinet.

As such, NFDP is a government policy and would continue even if a leadership structure change took place at KBS. - Bernama