Ong Kim Swee

Datuk Ong Kim Swee DPSM is a Malaysian football manager and former footballer, who was most recently the head coach of Super League club Persik Kediri. He spent most of his career playing for East Malaysian teams, notably Sarawak and Sabah during the mid 1990s.

Early life Ong was born into a Peranakan family in Malacca, Malaysia on 11 December 1970.

Playing career Ong began his career as a player for Malacca in the early 1990s. He was a member of the Malaysia Olympic teams nicknamed Barcelona 1992 under Chow Kwai Lam. In 1993, Ong joined Sarawak FA for whom he played two seasons before being controversially transferred to Sabah FA in late 1994. With Sabah, he won the Malaysia FA Cup in 1995 and M-League in 1996.

Ong made his full international debut against Kuwait on 22 September 1994. He was a member of the Malaysian squad for the 1994 Asian Games and also played for a Malaysian Selection side who famously held Flamengo to a 1–1 draw in an exhibition match in 1995.

In 2015, Ong was appointed as head coach of Malaysia national team after the resignation of the previous coach Dollah Salleh. Ong previously had hold the post on an interim basis in 2014 before Dollah was appointed. Despite a series of disappointing results in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Ong was handed a new two-year contract on 18 January 2016 in charge of the national team.

Ong was re-designated as Malaysia U-22 head coach, replacing Frank Bernhardt, in March 2017 following the appointment of new FAM president Tunku Ismail Idris. With the Malaysia U-22 team, Ong succeeded in reaching the final of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games football tournament on home soil, winning silver as the losing finalist to Thailand as well qualifying the team to the quarter-finals of 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced the resignation of Datuk Ong Kim Swee after its technical director accepted the position as the new head coach of Sabah FA.

In October 2021, Ong was appointed by Malaysia Super League club Sabah. He guide the team in the league to a third place finished in the 2022 and 2023 season where he also was instrumental in Sabah 2023–24 AFC Cup run until the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals.

On 25 November 2024, Ong moved to Indonesia to signed with Liga 1 club Persis Solo.

Managerial statistics

Honours Managerial honours Harimau Muda Malaysia Premier League: 2009

Malaysia U23 / U22 SEA Games Gold Medal: 2011 SEA Games Silver Medal: 2017 Merdeka Tournament: 2013 International U-21 Thanh Niên Newspaper Cup: 2012

Personal Honours

Honours of Malaysia