Scott O’Donell, the newly appointed Technical Director of the FA of Malaysia (FAM) said that the Malaysia national team or ‘Harimau Malaya’ should be led by a foreign coach.
This follows the recent resignation of Tan Cheng Hoe as the head coach of the Malaysian national team.
“I think that the Harimau Malaya squad after this needs to be coached by a foreign coach to change the landscape and future of Malaysian football to a new dimension for the long term,” said O’Donell at his official announcement at the Wisma FAM yesterday.
O’Donell will fill the vacancy left by Datuk Ong Kim Swee who resigned on 10 September 2021.
FAM Deputy President, Dato ‘S. Sivasundaram and FAM General Secretary, Mohd Saifuddin Abu Bakar, attended the announcement ceremony.
O’Donell stated that he would continue and further strengthen the F:30 programme which the FAM launched on 31 October 2018.
“The F:30 roadmap is a strategic plan for 2019 to 2030, but the COVID-19 pandemic has affected this planning. This roadmap is indeed a good plan but can be expanded according to the passage and suitability of time.
“It is not necessarily just focused on what we want to achieve in developing national football, which is a high profile national team, but it also covers grassroots development, youth, coach education, women’s football, futsal and beach soccer, all of which it’s also important, “O’Donell said.
The 55-year-old O’Donell has extensive experience in the field of coaching education having held the role of FIFA Coach/Expert/Mentor with his main focus on youth development, coach development, technical director and mentoring as well as AFC Coaching Instructor as an instructor for Pro, A, B and C Licenses.
O’Donell’s last position was as Technical Director at Capital Football (Australian Capital Territory Football Federation) from February 2017 to December 2021.
From 2015 to 2017, he was the Technical Director of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
O’Donell was also the head coach of Singapore League side Geylang United from 2003 to 2005 and the head coach of the Cambodian national team from 2005 to 2007 and 2009 to 2010.
From 2008 to 2009, he served as the AFC Director of Coaches Education.
As a player, O’Donell played as a defender with Kuala Lumpur in 1994 and then with Singapore League side Tampines Rovers and then Marine Castle United FC.
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