Both Star and NST report that at least five players from the Sarawak football team and an ex-national player were detained yesterday while several others from Malaysian Super League (MSL) teams are under investigation in a second wave of operations against match-fixing. Investigations are now focused on the Sarawak and Police football association teams. It is indeed a shame that things have deteriorated so much from the glory days of Ngap Sayot. What went wrong?

I don't know a single person who's still interested in Sarawak football. Everyone's following the EPL, Spanish league or other foreign leagues on Astro. I was part of the Ngap Sayot wave when Awang Mahyan created history with our local-bred team, all the way till the semis against Kedah when our stadium was overcrowded and the match had to be abandoned (effectively ending our chance of entering the finals). Those memories will always remain but I sincerely doubt whether we can ever experience the same sort of pride and/or success from our football team.

What went wrong? Everything I guess. Things have indeed gone downhill since the days of Alan Vest.

I guess the most noticeable reason for the decline of Sarawak football (and the quality of Malaysian football as a whole) was the decision to ban foreign players for a season or two during the late 90's.

Politics probably had something to do with the decline as well. And so were the hasty decisions to fire coaches when things did not go well. Since the departure of Abdul Jalil Rambli, coaches have come and gone in quick succession, which I think is really unfair for the coaches and not beneficial in the long run. The FAS were not realistic in their goals. The quality of the squad was really subpar but yet the FAS placed unrealistic goals for them. How can you expect a coach to lead a team to titles when the quality of the squad is that of a team that is destined for relegation.

So when the team is indeed relegated as expected from the quality of the squad, the FAS finds a scapegoat, which is so often than not, the coach.

The current coach, Kunju Jamaluddin, has potential in him. He brought about a mini-revival to the team despite inheriting players that were not picked by him. He must be given time to do his job. At the very least, he should be in charge next season so that we can see what he can do with players of his own picking.

But yet, we have heard that the bloody FAS were considering on firing him at the end of the season before deciding to postpone that decision as more pressing matters were at hand, namely the match-fixing allegations. It seems to me the only thing they care about is saving face, though they never have done a good job at doing so.

Plus, the string of bad results after the mini-revival may not even have anything to do with the coach if it is indeed true that there was match fixing going on.

The hiring of players is also a matter to discuss, especially the handling of foreign imports. It seems like the policy of hiring foreigners is to hire anybody they can get their hands on. A foreigner gets hired, plays a couple of games and then get fired for not being up to standard. Then why hire them in the 1st place? Maybe they got hired just as a stop gap replacement until a better foreigner comes along.

We've even had a player who was hired, got injured and then fired without even playing a game! Thoroughly unprofessional but given the dire situation of Sarawakian football, understandable I guess. But still unprofessional.

Last but not least, youth development. As often cited, it is true that we do not have any stable or proper youth development going on. Serious priority needs to be given to this issue. Serious groundwork needs to be laid. There has been some work done so far but it seems like it's just a temporary measure to stop the complaints. We need to be patient in this as Rome wasn't built in a day.

I try to be proud of the Sarawak team but it's really hard at times to be proud of the team when it seems like the FAS is really determined to make a mockery of themselves.

I didn't expect my post to be this long but there it is, my thoughts on the current state of Sarawak football. I guess it's deservedly long considering how long the decline of football in Sarawak has been going on.

It is just a very sorry state of Sarawak football!! I have been following their ups and downs since my schooling days in the 1980+++ until very recently where they lost with big margin....

The players just have no pride to play for the state......

Can we blame FAM....or FAS for not paying out salary timely....or like what Khairy Jamaludin said....it is because Malaysia does not legalize Football Betting!!!!!!!! That's why they go to underworld bookies!

Former Sarawak footballer nabbed for match-fixing
By SHARON LING

KUCHING: A former Sarawak footballer was remanded for four days by the magistrate’s court here to facilitate the Anti-Corruption Agency’s investigation into alleged match-fixing.

The player appeared briefly before magistrate Tengku Shahrizam Tuan Lah on Friday. He was represented by counsel Tony Chen Hua Yi.

Katherine Nais from the ACA prosecuted.

The ex-player had been arrested at his home in Matang here late Thursday night in connection with the match-fixing probe.

The ACA has also detained five current players from the Sarawak team in its probe which began two months ago when FA of Sarawak (FAS) executive secretary Abdul Wahet Uji lodged a report on match-fixing in the team.

Sarawak is currently at the bottom of the Malaysian Super League with 14 points from 22 games.

The team has won only four games all season. It has drawn twice and lost 16 times, conceding 60 goals in the process and scoring only 21 times.

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I agree with you entirely, especially on the above quoted points. There are plenty of Sarawakian kids who fit the mould of a good football player. All they need is to be identified, properly groomed and encouraged with the right incentives for them to realise their potential.

Foreign imports are a reality of the modern game and we do need them for our team but I would rather see more local-bred players ala Ngap Sayot days than for our state team to become like a Arsenal who can arguably be called a French side, with no English players being fielded most of the time (Walcott being the exception).

Perhaps John Hunter can consider come back to help the team.

We used to beat teams like Japan and South Korea regularly back in the 70's and 80's. Now, those teams are qualifying for the World Cup regularly and where are we now? Stuck in 170th position in the world, behind teams such as Tahiti, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and Netherlands Antilles. Such an embarrassing situation.