The last local football game I watched was a Public Bank FC match in 2005. After that season, I promised myself it will be my last. Why? They withdrew from the 2006 Premier League competition citing financial difficulties. As a result, they were banned from entering all competitions organised by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for five years.

It was a sad day for Malaysian football as the club had won the Malaysian League Premier II title in 2003 and played in the Malaysian Super League in 2004 and 2005. In their first season of the Super League, they finished runners-up to Pahang. Another football club team I was happy to watch was NS Chempaka. Sadly, they too were banned for the same reason.

Why do I support club teams instead of the heavily-sponsored state teams? With five million in annual subsidies from FAM each year, what do these state teams have to show? Players’ salaries are never paid on time, there is a dependence on imports, performance is inconsistent, their players are unfit, their style of play is boring and the list goes on. If I recall correctly, one of the northern state teams had an imported player who committed suicide because he wasn't paid his salaries. It was a black day for Malaysian football.

The people who helm state football associations are not ordinary Joes - they are high-profile VIPs. How can there be mismanagement of funds? Where does the annual grant, gate collections, sponsors and TV revenue go? Your guess is as good as mine.

I found myself in Bukit Jalil on a Sunday night watching My Team 2 versus the Indonesian My Team. I was hoping for a revival, something that will make me go back to the stadiums every week like I used to do. Boy, was I mistaken. After 90 minutes of pathetic playing, I wished I was at home watching reruns of the England versus South Africa match.

The team, coached by Serbergeth Singh, was just plain dull with no imagination, no individual skill, poor passing and poor ball possession. The players weren't thinking as a team. There was no support from mid-fielders when attacking.

Two years ago, when the national team was continually dishing out poor performances, the reincarnation of Malaysian football through My Team gave some hope to many of us. I still remember Reggie Lee’s cartoon that depicted Malaysia’s team in full football gear against a team in ‘sarongs’ (was it Cambodia or Laos?). Still Malaysia ended up losing.

In the wake of this humiliating defeat, the FAM disbanded the whole team and revamped the league system in search of better performances and results. The players and management might have changed, but the standards of football have gone from bad to worse. There was an outcry for a total revamp in FAM. Everybody knew that the root cause Malaysian football’s decay was because nobody emphasised on youth development. An influx of foreign players was not going to improve the standards.

I recall many years ago, M Karathu was tasked with running the Malaysian Youth Academy in Kuantan. Barely three months and it was shut down as state teams complained that they have lost many players to this academy. Instead of being proud of their state players being in the national youth team, they were complaining that it has caused their state teams to be weakened. Where is the consistency in youth development? Have you not heard of youth academies in Europe? Have you not see the success of these academies in producing new talent?

Some resignations followed and a new deputy was selected. Enter the era of the modern FAM, the era of Khairy Jamaludin, Malaysia’s famous son-in-law. Khairy was ‘brought in’ by FAM as an independent member of the Working Group (Ahli Bebas Majlis Kerja FAM). It is interesting to watch the way this guy runs his business.

Some say that he is in FAM for popularity and to improve his political image. Others say he is in it for the love of the game. I say disband My Team and the national team. Scout players for the national team as they did for My Team. It is time somebody asked him to choose. Quit politics or and concentrate on improving the standard of Malaysian football. If Khairy can improve the standard of Malaysian football, in due time his contribution will be recognised.

He will later be given the support he needs when he goes back to politics. For now, choose FAM and prove your worth. I have seen politicians wearing several caps and this has been the root cause of the decline in Malaysian football. Let Khairy ponder on that.

Let's pray that 2008 will be a better year for football. We used to be feared in football and rightly named ‘The Asian Tigers’ by our neighbours. Now we are the ‘The Malaysian Tigers’. Don't let it degrade to ‘The Pathetic Malaysian Pussycats’.