Malaysia's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games have been thrown into disarray after only six players from the 26-man Under-22 squad turned up to centralised training on Wednesday.
The Malaysians will head to the 2018 AFC U23 qualifiers in Bangkok later this month ahead of August's SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
With the Malaysia Super League (MSL) and Malaysia Cup running simultaneously, teams are hesitant to release their best talent for Datuk Ong Kim Swee's squad.
Only Syahmi Safari, Adam Nor Azlin, Irfan Zakaria, Amierul Hakimi Awang, Daniel Amier Norhisham and Ahmad Khairil Anuar Zamri showed up on Wednesday.
"Of course, having players arrive in batches will derail my preparations," said Ong, who took a near full-strength Malaysia U22 squad on a successful tour of China last month.
"There is no chance of us not competing because that will mean a FIFA sanction. So I have to make the best of this situation, prepare in the best way possible, and try to qualify from the group."
Malaysia are scheduled to leave for Bangkok on July 17, two days before their Group H opener against Indonesia.
After that, they will face hosts Thailand (July 21) and Mongolia (July 23).
Malaysia U22 team manager Datuk Wira Mohd Yusoff Mahadi is hopeful of getting more faces to the training camp in the coming days.
"We hope to get at least 18 players by July 12, and 20 players before we leave on July 17. As of now, only Pahang and Penang have yet to give us confirmation on the release of these players," he said.
"We understand the situation of these clubs, and we want to thank them in advance for releasing the players, and putting the national interest first."
Clubs are only obliged to release senior national team players for international matches on agreed FIFA dates.
The situation comes at the worst possible time for Ong, who has been tasked to win a second SEA Games football gold medal, having tasted success in Indonesia in 2011.
Malaysia were due to play the Myanmar U22 in a friendly on July 13, but that match has been postponed until the following day.