She said only a small number of players across all national squads were naturalised or of heritage status, and that many teams, including the Under-19 and Under-17 boys’ squads and most of the women’s teams, are made up entirely of homegrown talent.

“People often assume we rely on naturalised players. That’s not true. The data shows our local players still get a fair chance,” she told the Dewan Rakyat during her 2026 budget winding-up speech.

Yeoh gave a breakdown showing the senior Harimau Malaya team currently has seven heritage players, while the Under-23 squad has one. The Under-19 and Under-17 teams consist of only locals.

On the women’s side, only one heritage player is in the senior team, with the rest in the younger squads being Malaysian-born.

Yeoh was responding to critics who said that over-reliance on naturalised players could hurt grassroots talent development.

She also spoke about the role of the Mokhtar Dahari Academy, explaining that the government planned to return the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) to the Football Association of Malaysia following a review by the Asian Football Confederation, as national associations should lead development efforts.

The NFDP was launched in 2014 to identify and train young football talent. Managed by the academy in Gambang, Pahang, the programme was once hailed as a pipeline for future national players, producing several footballers who went on to represent Malaysia at youth and senior levels.

Separately, Yeoh said gaming company Sports Toto continued to contribute to sports development as part of its legal obligations, but noted that illegal online gambling had significantly reduced government revenue and the company’s overall contributions.