Malaysian clubs must share the responsibilities of developing future talent, said Syed Saddiq.

Malaysia's youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman hopes that Malaysian clubs will shoulder a larger portion of youth football development responsibilities in the future.

Speaking to the press after the Youth Cup match between Selangor U-19 and AMD U-16 in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi on Sunday, he expressed his desire to see more clubs following in the footsteps of several clubs, who have youth development programmes in place for trainees who are younger than 19 years old.

"AMD (Mokhtar Dahari Academy, a youth academy runs by the ministry as part of its National Development Youth Programme) tries to fill in the gap [in Malaysia's youth development]... so that's why the country's best trainees aged 16 and below are already defeating boys three years older than them. But obviously we want the clubs to take up the duty as well. 

"We have to give credit to clubs like Selangor, Kedah and JDT, which have put a lot of effort and investment into their youth associations (development), and hopefully more [clubs] will take up this duty.

"NFDP now works closely with the states trying to decentralise and collaborate with each [football] association, such as Kedah, the pioneering association of this move. When there is collaboration at the top, we can spend resources more efficiently, while at the same time expanding and bettering the network," responded the 26-year old to Goal's query.

When asked about the current condition of AMD in Gambang, Pahang, he said that improvements have been made by his ministry on the academy's condition and the trainees' welfare.

After his party won control of the federal government in the historic general elections May last year, it was revealed that the relatively-new academy had been in a state of neglect, while trainees too had not been provided a proper diet.

"...There are now six National Sports Institute (ISN) officials stationed there permanently, and trainees now get the best of food, equipment and training.

"I just visited the academy three weeks earlier, out of the 800 defects [revealed previously], it's now down to 10 to 20 while all major defects have been resolved. From three meals a day, the students now get five ISN-approved meals. We want to maintain this level of support," explained the politician.

The Selangor U-19-AMD U-16 match ended in a 1-0 win to the younger side.