PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has targeted to be in the world top 130 next season from the 151st spot, said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said this was in tandem with a call made by FAM president Sultan Ahmad Shah who wanted the senior team to improve its ranking.
"His highness does not set the target. We aim for top 130 following a discussion between national coach B.Sathianathan and me," he told reporters here Thursday.
Malaysia's highest Fifa World soccer rankings is 75, but that was in 1993.
It dropped to 170th spot in April this year before moving up the ladder to the 162nd place in August and climbed to the 151st position after finishing runners-up in the Merdeka Cup tournament last month.
Khairy said the national squad would be pitted in friendly matches against national teams of other countries in the 'A' class in an effort to achieve the target.
On the under 23 squad (U-23), he said FAM had set its target for the team to win the Laos Sea Games' soccer title in December next year and the preparation would start in January next year.
Asked whether Sathianathan's contract, which will expire next month, will be renewed, he said it would depend on the outcome of the AFF Cup Championship in Thailand next month.
Khairy said FAM would pay 50 per cent of the annual grants to Malaysian League teams beginning January next year while the remainder in the middle of next year.
Super League teams will be getting RM250,000 a year while Premier League teams, RM150,000
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