Vietnamese official questions Harimau Malaya's future if Tunku Ismail walks away
This question was raised by former Asean Football Federation (AFF) vice president Duong Vu Lam, who voiced his concern over Malaysia's naturalisation drive and Indonesia's as well.
"One day, Erick Thohir (Indonesia FA (PSSI) president) and Tunku Ismail will no longer be leading football in Indonesia and Malaysia.
"What will happen to the national teams then?" said Duong in an interview with Vietnamese news outlet Dan Tri.
"Naturalised players won't come anymore because there will be no one paying them, and local players won't have proper successors. What future will their football?"
While fans debate in Malaysia over the rising number of foreign-born naturalised players, Duong's remarks point to a deeper issue — sustainability.
He warned that Malaysia and Indonesia's heavy reliance on naturalised players is being propped up not by a robust national structure, but by individuals with deep pockets and global football connections.
"The PSSI president is billionaire Thohir, the former president (and owner) of Inter Milan.
"Meanwhile, the person supporting Malaysia's naturalisation policy is Tunku Ismail.
"He is a prince and once negotiated to buy Valencia. Both of them have immense wealth and powerful connections in the football world."
Duong said both leaders have the means to run specialised scouting operations and fast-track naturalisation through their networks.
"They even have their scouting teams, groups of experts highly skilled in identifying players from all over the world," he said.
"This enables them to find players suitable for Indonesia or Malaysia to naturalise.
"At the same time, once they've identified suitable players, they can immediately meet the financial demands.
"So the players agree to play for Indonesia or Malaysia."
Duong also shared his thoughts on Vietnam's 4-0 loss to Malaysia in an Asian Cup qualifier last month.
"They used many naturalised players, so their playing style makes it difficult to find cohesion in small coordination situations.
"Moreover, most of Malaysia's naturalised players are currently not of very high level," he said in an interview with Vietnam.vn.
Duong added that the Malaysian team under former head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal (2010-2012) had a better balance and identity, relying less on physicality and more on spirit and structure.
"I liked the Malaysian team from 2010 to 2012 more. The fighting spirit of the Malaysian players at that time was also higher than now," he said.
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