Pan Gon and his team were reported to have expressed their willingness to “part ways” with the national team if their services were no longer required.
“The statement in the news article quoted from the source is completely inaccurate because I did not send any letter regarding the matter,” he said about a report in Berita Harian. A similar report was carried by Bernama and also appeared in other publications.
“After reading the news article, I immediately contacted FAM president Hamidin Amin to explain this matter and I personally assured him that my mission with the Harimau Malaya squad is not over and I will not leave this team just like that,” he said in a statement.
Pan Gon reassured the fans of Harimau Malaya that he is committed to guiding the team until his contract expires at the end of 2025.
“The main mission is qualifying for the third round of the 2026 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers which confirms automatic qualification to the 2027 AFC Asian Cup,” he added.
The reports about his purported resignation had said he had decided to call it quits out of disappointment with the national team’s situation.
The anonymous source quoted in the reports said Pan Gon’s decision to part ways with the team might have arisen due to the disappointment and dissatisfaction over several matters that have taken place in the national squad.
Malaysia recently lost 2-0 twice in a row to Oman in their Group D matches in the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifying campaign, thus extending their poor run of form since their topsy-turvy performance in the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar in January.
Pan Gon, who was appointed in January 2022, has transformed Harimau Malaya’s performance in international competitions. The team qualified for the Asian Cup after 42 years and achieved second place in both the 2022 Thai King’s Cup and the 2023 Merdeka Football tournament under his guidance.
Malaysia’s world ranking also rose from 154th to its highest-ever position of 130th.
Pan Gon brought in four assistants, namely a goalkeeper coach, a fitness coach, an analyst and assistant head coach E Elavarasan.
Pan Gon was formerly the Korean Football Association team director and once coached Hong Kong as well.