Harimau Malaya Withdraw From CAFA Nations Cup 2025

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- The national football squad has decided to withdraw from participating in the 2025 Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup which will be held from August 29 to September 8.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in a statement announced that the decision was made following the change in match dates falling outside the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) international window, posing challenges in terms of logistics, player availability, and overall squad preparation.

"The last-minute change of date poses a challenge to the national squad in all aspects, as clubs are not obliged to release their players.

"This situation directly affects our efforts to form the best squad for the tournament, especially when some of our key players are playing in major leagues such as Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan," FAM said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski described the decision to withdraw from participating in the CAFA Nations Cup as the right one and the Harimau Malaya squad will focus fully on the training camp ahead of the important matches against Laos and Nepal in Oct and Nov.

"We have players who are playing in the world's leading leagues such as Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan. "To get them to Tajikistan in such a short time and ensure they are ready to perform at the highest level is unrealistic in this window," he said.

The Harimau Malaya squad is scheduled to meet Laos for a Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Laos on Oct 9 before hosting Laos in the country on Oct 14.

The national squad will then fly to Nepal for another Group stage match on Nov 18.

-- BERNAMA