KUALA LUMPUR – The government should recognise freestyle football as a proper sport in Malaysia, said national freestyle footballer Muhamad Hazim Ahmad Fadlullah Suhaimi.
In an interview with The Vibes, Hazim, commonly known as Zeem Ahmad, said freestyle football has the potential to become a sport on its own as the country possesses many international-level athletes who have won many tournaments for Malaysia.
The 28-year-old is not new to the industry as he has made a name for himself internationally.
He began learning freestyle football in 2006 at the age of 10, while on a family outing at Tasik Titiwangsa.
There, he witnessed a freestyle performance and was immediately amazed by the moves.
“At that time, I also met Dr Freestyler Malaysia, Amy, one of the pioneers of the sport in Malaysia, who trained me and brought me to all shows.
“The Pepsi commercial featuring Ronaldinho, a Brazilian footballer performing freestyle, amazed me while I was in primary school. Additional training from Dr Freestyler inspired me to learn more about freestyle football,” he said.
Hazim said it took him four years of training from Amy to master the basics of freestyle football before he began experimenting with his own skills via YouTube and self-learning.
He added that his aim for 2023 is to become a Red Bull athlete, given that the Austrian-based brand is host to an incredible list of well-known athletes from different sports and nations.
“I work hard to achieve my aim of becoming an official Red Bull athlete, which is challenging, but I will continue to try until I am successful, as I believe Red Bull has recognised me as I am known by some of its members.
“I also have my own academy called One2one Academy, and I want to produce more skilled young players who follow their passion,” he added.
Hazim admitted that it was a great challenge to gain the trust of his family in pursuing his passion.
“Initially, my family forced me to focus on finding a job in order to secure a stable income, but now I have proven that freestyle footballers can be successful and that the most important factor is effort.
“In the past, I trained for three hours, but now, due to my commitment, I train for only one hour for freestyle and stamina,” said Hazim.
He said that he has travelled to twelve different nations to represent Malaysia, where he served on juries as well as performed, coached, and competed in various tournaments.
Hazim was one of the few Asian faces at the 2016 World Street Soccer Championship in Denmark and also represented Malaysia at the Panna Home Training Camp 2019 in Japan as a trainer.
Last year, Hazim was announced as one of the winners of the Red Bull Neymar Jr’s Five World Final 2022, representing Southeast Asia. – The Vibes, January 23, 2023
