Six months into his new role as Chief Executive Officer of Football Malaysia LLP, Kevin Ramalingam could be excused for thinking he's bitten off more than he can chew.
With the nation falling to their lowest ever FIFA ranking of 171st in the world and recently sanctioned by the sport's governing body, it may not seem like the ideal time to be talking up the Malaysian game.
But this former engineer relishes a challenge and they don't come much bigger than revolutionising the Malaysia Super League (MSL) and Malaysia Cup. That means getting the best out of domestic football, technically and commercially, after the country's governing body was paid a reported RM1.26 billion (US$303 million) by media rights company MP and Silva in January for television and sponsorship rights for the next 15 years.
"We're meant to be the driver of change within Malaysian football, empowering the teams to make decisions about rules and direction of the MSL after it was previously managed by Football Association Malaysia (FAM)," Ramalingam told ESPN FC.
"This isn't a new concept because many organisations around the world have undergone privatisation or corporatisation exercises, with football going down this route over the past 25 years or so."
The shining example is the English Premier League which was established in 1992, replacing the old first division, as the new top flight. It helped transform the game in the UK after public support had waned in the wake of the ban on English clubs in Europe because of crowd trouble.
Ramalingam hopes that he can oversee a similar metamorphosis, even with the Malaysian national team having suffered recent 10-0 and 6-0 defeats in AFC World Cup qualifying and being punished by FIFA after flares fired onto the Shah Alam pitch forced the abandonment of a home qualifier against Saudi Arabia on Sept. 8.
"Success at international levels always drives more interest within the local market so if we said the poor performances of the Malaysian national team had no impact we would be kidding ourselves," he admitted.
"But when it comes to the process of building the league, we are at the same stage where the EPL was in the early 1990s. I hope we can make our league even half as successful as they've been."
40-year-old Ramalingam was a keen junior footballer growing up in Petaling Jaya and followed Selangor in the MSL and Manchester United in the Premier League. His younger brother Stuart, a Liverpool fan who is a former Director of Marketing for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), is head of Malaysia for sports and marketing agency, Dentsu Sports Asia.
Ramalingam is best known for his previous role as CEO of Kelantan, overseeing a treble-winning season in 2012, under coach Bojan Hodak. His dream is to see the MSL played in front of packed stadiums every week, with millions of fans tuning in to world-class television coverage and sponsors clamouring to get involved.
That starts, Ramalingam believes, by bringing a Europe-style professionalism to the MSL.
"We are adopting a more bottom up approach than top down, where teams will be empowered with the knowledge to make better decisions in terms of budgeting and planning," he said.
"Understanding the culture of this part of the world is important. If we merely try to impose rules that teams don't understand, or cannot see why, then these will fail because they won't be implemented, as cooperation will be at surface level only."
One of Ramalingam's challenges is a very tight timeline -- the 2016 Malaysian season is due to start in mid-January -- and uncertainties about what the New Year will bring. Will Singapore's LionsXII continue to be part of the MSL and will the rival ASEAN Super League -- penciled in to begin next August -- complicate an already clouded picture?
The controversial Southeast Asian competition would reportedly feature teams from Malaysia and Singapore, as well as six other nations, including Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia.
And there's also the lingering question about which Malaysian TV station -- and indeed which regional network -- will carry MSL coverage next season.
"I'm hoping that we will know more about all of that very soon and have clarity on the situation about LionsXII's involvement from FAM," he said.
"The Malaysian and regional football market is always challenging, but the challenges should keep us on our toes to make the right decisions. We have all the ingredients for success in terms of football passion and culture that are the envy of many."
As dysfunctional Malaysian football can be -- especially when it comes to the late payment of players -- the MSL and Malaysia Cup this year have been compelling, lit up by some quality imports, as part of the four foreigner rule, to rival the Thai Premier League as the region's best domestic championship.
The fact that league champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) and runners-up Pahang have gone so deep in the 2015 AFC Cup proves that the quality of football is getting better. And there have been big crowds in regional centres like Kota Bahru, Kuala Terengganu and Johor.
But Ramalingam and his team face the perennial issue of convincing the greater public, especially in the affluent Klang Valley near Kuala Lumpur -- and indeed corporate Malaysia -- that the MSL deserves the same attention as the top European leagues.
The clock is ticking as Football Malaysia LLP comes up with a workable master plan to revolutionise local football, yet Ramalingam says that he will be transparent with his leadership and stand accountable for what is or isn't achieved.
"All of this will be outlined in a blueprint and published because I am not going to hide behind hidden goals to safeguard my position," he said. "
Good communication and clarity will be the pillars upon which the new league is built on. We want teams, media and the fans to understand exactly what we are doing and why are doing it."