KUALA LUMPUR: Tamil schools in Malaysia received a boost on Friday after Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the approval of RM530,000 for a football tournament between the schools aimed at boosting integration and cultural projects for the minority group in the country. Minister in the Prime Minister's office G. Palanivel said that the goal of the “Road to England” tournament was to promote cultural exchange and give Tamil speakers in Malaysia the opportunities other Malaysian students had. The football tournament will include 523 Tamil schools in the country and will see the use of some 10 venues across Malaysia, he said. He said that 11 players from the tournament would be sent to “train and play at the Manchester United (MU) football club in England later this year. “The objective of the project is to produce Malaysian Indian boys who can have football as a career with their standards on par with the English players on a long term. “They can also contribute towards the standard of football locally when they return and represent the country in international tournaments,” he told a a press conference after handing over an allocation worth RM330,000 to 23 Indian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Selangor at a temple near Bestari Jaya. The final training and selection of the 11 players will be done by former England International footballer Peter Barnes. The “Road to England” tournament initiative is a collaborative effort between Peter Barnes Football Academy and the Malaysian Tamil schools headmasters council.
