Malaysia will boot foreign players out of its domestic league next season to save cash and develop its flagging national game.
Soccer federation chiefs meeting at the weekend unanimously agreed that clubs' reliance on highly-paid foreign imports was shutting out local talent and weakening the national team.
"We are not at the status of English Premier League, our league is not matured yet, therefore some drastic measures must be taken to improve it," the federation's deputy president, Khairy Jamaluddin, told local reporters.
"With the presence of foreign players, local players have not been given the opportunity (to develop)."
Officials also said most of the foreigners were past their prime and clubs were struggling to pay their high salaries.
"(Clubs) can't cope, so it is best that we do away with foreign players until the problems are solved," one committee member told the Star newspaper.
Federation officials also cited a government report that suggested many of those involved in match-fixing in the Malaysian Super League were foreigners, with Africans the worst offenders.
