FAM president Hamidin Amin said his focus is to ensure the football academy achieves its full potential in all aspects, especially where basic infrastructure and training facilities are concerned.

Although admitting these plans may still not be adequate to compete with the renowned Aspire Academy in Qatar, which is one of the most sophisticated sports academies in the world, FAM believes their plans can step up AMD to another level.

“I have my concerns for AMD and my focus is to streamline things and ensure facilities there are in tip-top condition.

“Even if it can’t match Aspire (academy), at least it would be better than what it is now. These are my hopes expressed to the Youth and Sports Minister (Syed Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman),” he said when met at the FAM’s Aidilfitri reception yesterday.

Hamidin said fortifying AMD was important to ensure the academy’s more than 200 trainees and 22 coaches are part of a collective effort to produce quality footballers to help improve the national squad.

“These efforts are very important as they (trainees) are the players who will be donning national colours in five to six years,” he said.

Syed Saddiq, before this, had been optimistic of Malaysia emulating the same approach used by the Qataris, who had developed talent drawn from all around the world at their Aspire Academy, that eventually led to them lifting the prestigious Asian Cup earlier this year.

The Aspire Academy is recognised as one of the best footballing academies in scouting promising players and coaches, who first must undergo tough trials before being accepted.

For the record, AMD was launched in 2014 by former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak with RM85 million invested in the academy aimed at bringing in a new dimension for Malaysian football through high-level coaching, quality training and international exposure.