Kim Swee To Train With QPR For A Month

PETALING JAYA (Selangor, Malaysia) Feb 3 (Bernama) -- Harimau Malaysia (national football squad) chief coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee has been given the opportunity to train with London-based English Premier League club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for a month. FA of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said Kim Swee's stint together with assisant coach Brad Maloney from Feb 7 to March 8 would serve as a boost for them as well as the national squad. Hamidin said the stint was fully sponsored by AirAsia whose Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is also the owner of QPR. "Kim Swee and Brad will be given the opportunity to see for themselves the training sessions conducted for QPR in Harlington by their coach Ian Holloway and his coaching team. "They will get the chance to exchange views and learn new approaches in terms of training, tactics and squad preparation," he told the monthly press conference on the development of the national squad at Wisma FAM here Friday. Meanwhile, Kim Swee said that it was a golden opportunity for him and Maloney and that they would make full use of it to upgrade their knowledge and skills. "Getting to see QPR train and gain an insight on their training academy will certainly be very useful for us for in handling the Harimau Malaysia," he said. AirAsia X group chief executive officer Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, meanwhile, said the stint was the start of a collaboration between FAM and QPR which would also involve the sending over of coaches and players to the club and specialists from QPR to Malaysia. "This long term collaboration is one of our contributions for the development of football in Malaysia," he said. In other developments, FAM deputy president Afandi Hamzah said the national Under-22 squad would start centralised training in May to prepare for the 2017 Kuala SEA Games which will be held from Aug 19 to 31. The squad will also be taking part in an invitational tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from March 20-28. Other teams that will be participating besides the hosts are Saudi Arabia, China, Jordan, North Korea, Thailand and Singapore. -- BERNAMA