The national Football team was dealt a bitter blow when three players departed from the training camp on Tuesday night.
The three are Zaquan Adha Razak, Ifran Fazail and Darren Lok, all from JDT II.
The players are said to have informed coach Dato Ong Kim Swee of their decision to leave the training camp and left the same night.
A total of 13 players had reported for training on Tuesday morning Abd the team had their first training session the same day at Wisma FAM.
Barely two hours after the training ended, the three players informed Kim Swee they were leaving.
JDT has however informed FAM that their players will only report for national training in accordance with the FIFA regulation governing the release of players for national duty which is four days prior to the match.
" I was informed by the 3 players from JDT II
last night that they had been instructed by their club to return to Johor.
"This morning FAM received a letter from JDT informing us that they ( JDT ) were invoking the FIFA clause pertaining to release of players for national duty, which is four days before the scheduled match.
" I have no alternative but to let them return as per the instruction from their club.
" I have discussed this matter with the Team Manager Dato Hamidin Mohd Amin and we will be calling up 2 additional players, Norshahrul Idlan and Nasir Basharuddin to add to the list of trainees.
" We respect the decision made by the players and hope they will report back for training when granted permission by their club.
When asked why players were called up outside the permitted FIFA window, Kim Swee offered this explanation.
" My intention was to work on these 13 players individually on aspects that they needed to improve and also have them in camp as they had no competitive matches over the next few days" added Kim Swee.
" It is the prerogative of the club in cases like this and we hope that teams will help the national cause."
A total of 6 JDT players were called up for national training by Kim Swee.
The other players from JDT , Amri Yahya, Azrif Nasrulhaq and Fadhli Shas were only required report for training on October 2 as the second batch of trainees are to report on that day.
Kim Swee was obviously devastated with the turn of events but out up a brave front, opting to focus on what is needed on the pitch then let matters off the pitch affect his focus.
" I have a job to do and will do it to the best of my ability," said Kim Swee.
" No coach should have to deal with such a situation but at times there are matters beyond our control.
" Let's move forward and prepare for the matches accordingly as the interest of the nation is paramount."
