SHAH ALAM, 7 Dec: The Selangor Chief Minister’s (MB) Cup Football Championship for under 16 years will be considered to become an annual event as a platform to find young talent in the state.

The Executive Councillor in charge of Youth and Sports, Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi, said that this will be discussed in detail to produce young successors who are talented in football.

He said that the effort will focus on those under 16 because students at the age are less involved in any major examinations.

“I think that it should be an annual event. I noticed that children of this state are eager to play, especially those under 16, because they are more relaxed because they are not facing any major examinations.

“From this event, we will showcase players regardless of area or district and train those interested,” he said at a tea party in conjunction with celebrating teams, officers and managers of the Selangor MB Football Championship 2013 here at the Megawati Hall of the Chief Minister’s official residence yesterday.

At the same time, Yunus hopes the establishment of a football academy next year will be fully used by youth interested in this field.

He said that the academy will provide opportunity to become successors as well as jobs to those involved.

The championship saw team Petaling Perdana win the event after successfully defeating the Klang team 3-1 in the final which was held at the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Stadium in November.

The champions of this event, which took place for the first time, took home a cash prize of RM5,000, trophies and medals, as well as prizes presented by the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The championship which used the league format involved 10 teams from eight districts across Selangor, starting 20 November.