Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's statement blaming the national football team squad for the slide in the country's international ranking earned a sharp rebuke from a star striker.

Penning his frustration on Facebook, Safee Sali also appeared to take a swipe at the RM100 million corruption scandal in the ministry.

"It's disappointing when the national team's ranking tumble, only the players are blamed.

"But when RM100 million goes missing, things remain as it is.

"Imagine the needs that can be met and facilities provided with that amount of money alone," he added.

Safee seemed to be referring to the high-profile scandal involving a senior officer from the ministry and his accomplices.

When news of the embezzlement broke, there were calls for the minister to resign.

However, Khairy said he had no knowledge of the embezzlement. Though accepting responsibility over the matter, he did not resign.

On March 31, the ministry's financial division secretary Otman Arsahd was slapped with 32 counts of misappropriating government funds totalling RM38 million and falsifying documents.

Safee, who also plays for Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), was upset over Khairy's statement that he was not surprised the national football team slid to the 174th place, its worst ever.

The minister said the national team players have reached their limit and were no longer capable of improving, stating that attention should be focussed on moulding younger players.