Soccer: Malaysia hit by boycott

By TERRY MADDAFORD


The All Whites have been caught in the crossfire of the stand-off between the African and Asian Football Confederations which followed the controversial 2006 World Cup vote.

The Africans, bitterly upset when the four Asian votes went in favour of Germany rather than South Africa, decided to sever ties with Asia, threatening to pull out of any matches involving the two confederations.

Yesterday they flexed those muscles in ordering the Cameroon Olympic side to return home from London, where the team were about to board an aircraft for Malaysia and the Merdeka tournament.

The Cameroons' late withdrawal follows an earlier decision by Ghana to stay home.

The withdrawal of the African sides, who had planned to use the 36th Merdeka tournament as their final Olympic warm-up, has reduced it to a four-team competition.

New Zealand will now play the Malaysian national side in the early hours of Monday morning, followed two days later by a game against Malaysia under-22 and then, on Thursday night, Oman.

All Whites' coach Ken Dugdale, speaking from the team's hotel in Kuala Lumpur before the first of two training sessions yesterday, said: "I'm not happy, but there is nothing we can do about it.

"One of the attractions in coming here was to see Ghana and Cameroon play."

He said it was understood the acid had been put on Cameroon to withdraw. Earlier, the Cameroon association had said it would definitely play in the Merdeka tournament irrespective of the boycott.

With what Dugdale described as a very strong side, the All Whites beat Malaysia 5-1 last year. They lost 1-2 and drew 2-2 with Oman in other matches en route to the Confederations Cup in Mexico.

Dugdale has reservations about the tough playing schedule.

"We are now expected to play three games in five days or four in seven if we make the final," he said.

"That is too tough in these conditions.

"While they will not change anything in the round-robin games, we are hoping they might still agree to a two-day break before the final."

If New Zealand do not make next Saturday's scheduled final, they are likely to return in time to allow players to turn out in the Chatham Cup semifinals on August 20.

If they are in the final, Dugdale said he might be able to release some players for the cup, given the rule which allows only five substitutes on the bench.