As a junior at Michigan during one autumn, I took an economics class instructed by a professor with sharp sense of humor. At one time, he shared a conversation he had with his young daughter. The daughter had two choices: an ice cream today or a trip to Disney World next week; having both is not an acceptable answer. While many of in the class would choose the latter, the daughter opted for an ice cream today. He went to lament humorously on how short term a child’s investment horizons could be. From then on, he touched briefly on the instant gratification hypothesis. Fast forwards several years on the other side of the planet, that child is Malaysia, that ice cream is the Manchester United match and that Disney World is the Asian Cup.
I understand that preferences differ across individuals but the Malaysian preference is remarkably short term in nature that it brings the instant gratification hypothesis to another level altogether. For the uninitiated, a short background on the issue is required if one is to comprehend what is going on.
Malaysia — along with three other Southeast Asia countries — is hosting the Asian Cup, a continental wide soccer tournament this July. One tiny detail requires the hosts of the tournament to concentrate on the Asian Cup. Malaysia however plans to have a match with Manchester United during the Asian Cup tournament and that is causing AFC as well as FIFA discomfort. Both have requested Malaysia to cancel or postpone the match and concentrate on the Asian Cup instead, or face severe punishment the might include membership suspension from AFC. Initially, Malaysia through the Football Association of Malaysia seems to adhere with the directive but then, somehow, the Prime Minister of Malaysia felt the need to jump into the fray and directed the Manchester United match to go on regardless.
I find it odd that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet need to intervene in the matter. I fully trust, whatever the decision might be, the Football Association of Malaysia is able to handle the matter. Trivial matters such as this does not deserve the Prime Minister’s attention, unlike a national disaster. Moreover, Iran had its membership in FIFA suspended because of government interference on soccer matters and it is possible for Malaysia to find itself in the same scenario Iran had gone through. In my opinion, the threat of suspension far exceed any benefit we might gain from government intervention, as far as this issue is concerned.
I find it disappointing that the Malaysian government has opted to jeopardize our relationship with AFC and FIFA simply because of the Manchester United match. I cannot overstate the fact that gain from the match is short term in nature. It brings limited one-time monetary returns and does not contribute to the development of our soccer. Surely nobody would believe that a match with Manchester United would improve the quality of Malaysia soccer. Relationship with AFC and FIFA on the other hand would allow continuous exposure for the benefits of Malaysian soccer.
After all that, the question that needs answering is this: if AFC and FIFA decide to suspend Malaysia’s membership, what is going to happen with our already sad state of soccer?
Are we going to be a soccer hermit because of Manchester United?
If we turn our back on AFC and FIFA now, would we be given a chance to host the Asian Games, the World Cup or the Olympics in the future?
I would say dump Manchester United, make Asian Cup a success and secure our relationship with AFC and FIFA. Or at least, postpone the match after the Asian Cup.