Kim Pan-Gon Withdraws From Malaysia's Coach Chair, Assistant From Spain Becomes Caretaker

Kim Pan-Gon left the position of Malaysia coach (Instagram/@kimpangon).

JAKARTA - Malaysia's national team coach, Kim Pan-gon, has decided to end cooperation with the Malayan Tigers earlier than the agreement. The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) responded to the sudden decision.

Pan-gon began coaching Malaysia on January 21, 2022. He has a contract agreement until December 2025. However, the South Korean coach chose to end his collaboration on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, based on information shared by FAM on their official website.

"For information, Pan-gon has met with FAM management to convey its desire to shorten the duration of the contract," said FAM Vice President Datuk Wira Mohd Yusoff Haji Mahadi, quoted on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.

After Pan-gon ended the contract, FAM immediately appointed a Spanish tactician, Pau Marti Vicente, as interim coach alias caretaker. Vicente was previously a Pan-gon assistant in the Malaysian national team.

Now Vicente will carry out his duties with the help of another assistant, namely Elavasan and a row of South Korean coaches who previously helped Pan-gon, such as Park Bo-bae as assistant coach, Cho Jun-ho as goalkeeping coach, Park Jih-yeon who became physical coach, and performance analyst Lim Jae-hun.

"What is certain is that Pau Marti's first task as acting head coach of the Malayan Tigers is to lead the team for the 2024 Merdeka Festival tournament which will take place at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in September 2024, followed by three other teams, namely Tajikistan, Lebanon and the Philippines," said Datuk Wira Mohd Yusoff Haji Mahadi.

After failing to qualify for the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification, Malaysia's next agenda is the Merdeka Festival and the 2024 AFF Cup. With a series of schedules in sight, FAM still has not provided further information about whether Pau Marti's position will be a permanent coach or looking for a new coach.