Football Association of Maldives (FAM) President Bassam Adeel Jaleel has met with former national team captain Ali ‘Dhangadey’ Ashfaq.

In a tweet on Sunday night, FAM head Bassam said they had a wonderful chat discussing development projects and national teams and praised Ashfaq for being “one of the best footballers ever to embrace the football field.”

Also on Twitter, Ashfaq said the discussion has regained high hopes of a brighter future for football.

This meeting comes at a time when the public have been criticizing FAM and national football team coach Petar Segrt for not giving a spot in the team to Ashfaq. Coach Segrt has said that the decision was made to give more opportunities to younger players.

Ashfaq, who won best player and scored the most goals in the last season, has said that he will accept any opportunity to contribute to the national team.

FAM head Bassam earlier met with Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof to discuss starting a home and away league across the country.