Australian coach criticizes Malaysia’s youth football as 'disorganized'

07/12/2025 13:21:00 soccer

Malaysia’s youth football is in a state of disorder and poised to remain "asleep" for another ten years, according to a frank evaluation by Malaysia’s national team head coach Peter Cklamovski.

The Australian coach believes that Malaysia’s youth development and school football systems are fundamentally broken.

Cklamovski’s opinions carry significance as he has spent the last decade building and repairing youth development systems in two of Asia’s strongest football countries.

Malaysia’s national team coach Peter Cklamovski comments that Malaysia’s youth football is chaotic and continues to "sleep". Photo: NST

In J.League 2024, his FC Tokyo team had the youngest squad in club history with an average age of 22.7. They ranked among Asia’s top five in minutes played by players under 21 years old.

This youth focus did not harm their results: FC Tokyo finished 7th, becoming one of Asia’s highest-intensity teams and breaking attendance records for both club and league.

Previously, while coaching Australia’s U17 team, Cklamovski revamped the entire scouting and talent identification system.

The "Elite Matches" concept, where the best players from all regions regularly compete, became a national standard and still exists today.

After Malaysia’s U17 team failed to qualify for the 2026 AFC U17 Championship, and the U23 team missed its goals twice this year, Timesport asked Cklamovski: where is the real problem?

Comment (0)