Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman stressed that Lim Teong Kim's position as director of the Mokhtar Dahari Academy under the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) would not be affected.

According to Syed Saddiq, who admitted to looking forward to the day that Malaysia qualifies for the World Cup, he feels responsible for the national squad's failure to qualify for the Under-17 World Cup in Peru next year.

"I did not sack Lim and the NFDP will continue. Immediately after the match, the Football Association of Malaysia had sacked Lim as the National Under-16 squad coach.

"This has nothing to do with NFDP, and he is still a legitimate director of the Mokhtar Dahari Academy under the NFDP until now," he said in a statement today.

However, Syed Saddiq added, he could not escape the reality that NFDP is facing a severe financial situation at present.

A special fund of RM20 million a year from the previous government was not received as promised since the NFDP was launched.

"As a result of this problem, the National Sports Council of Malaysia today have to use their own funds which were taken from the allocations for other purposes to bear the expenses of NFDP.

Syed Saddiq said he was adamant in his stand to reevaluate the salary package given to Lim, which is almost RM175,000 per month under the NFDP, and did intend to question his eligibility to receive a salary that high.

"People need to know that, prior to this, 80 percent of his salary was paid by sponsors, but since the past two years, MSN was making all these payments after the sponsors withdrew. MSN's responsibility to other sports will also be affected, "he said.

Commenting further, he said the revaluation was not just from the aspect of the management's salaries, but included other aspects of the programme, namely, management, competitions, equipment expenses and the young NFDP athletes.

In another statement, Syed Saddiq said he would talk with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to take into account the need for a suitable allocation to continue to develop football at the grassroots level.

"At the same time, efforts to bring in more sponsors are being continued and show positive growth. We need more involvements from the corporate sector in the development of national sports," he said.

- Bernama