Malaysia's 'MyTeam' wants entry to the M-League

MyTeam, the football squad formed from a television reality program and which displayed tremendous potential in their game against a Malaysian Selection Sunday night, now wants to play in the Malaysia League. After only six weeks of training, MyTeam were beaten 2-1 by the Malaysian Selection team, which comprised players from the U-20 squad and the game attracted over 50,000 spectators.

"I will not give up in my quest to enlist My Team for the Malaysia League because most of the players are capable of playing as professionals, said the Chairman and Executive Producer of Maya Sdn Bhd, Khairy Jamaluddin. "Any team which aspires to play in the Malaysia League must fulfill certain criteria set by the Football Association of Malaysia and we aim to do just that," he told a news conference at the National Sports Council .

Khairy and fellow executive producer Jason Lo are also working towards a second season of MyTeam. "Our sponsors, particularly broadcast sponsor TV3, have expressed support for a second season," Khairy said. If FAM declines to participate, we can have a different climax, perhaps a match against Singapore or a foreign club."

He added that the MyTeam format — which involves grassroots football selections documented in a reality television show — could be marketed and sold as an international franchise. "This is an original concept from Malaysia, and nobody in the world has done it before," Khairy said. "So, it could be a television export to take overseas, and we’ve started negotiations with neighbouring countries and some European nations. A recording has been sent to FIFA, and they have expressed interest in the MyTeam concept."

See also: Malaysian MyTeam football TV reality show debuts (23 Mar)