it played at the munic olympics in 1972 and earned a bronze medal at the asian games. according to the latest fifa rankings malasia has slipped to 148th in the world. a major effort is now underway to groom a new generation of players. >> reporter: futbol is hugely popular among young malaysians. but you wouldn't know it from the country's domestic league. the stadiums are almost empty. malaysians prefer the english premier league. fans gather to watch the games. >> translator: the level of futbol in malasia is too low. it's not interesting to watch. >> reporter: one of the factors behind the decline of malaysian futbol and it's lack of ethnic diversity. malasia is -- indians, and chinese co-exist. ethnic chinese make up a quarter of the population. but they don't have a single player on the national team. at its peek, malaysian futbol included several chinese players including a local hero aun. but playing futbol isn't always an appealing career. malaysian chinese are often highly ambitious. they prefer to go into business and make money rather than play sport. observ