Experienced defender Samooh Ali (Samuttey) has been reinstated as captain of the Maldives national football team.

Samooh was left out of the squad for the Diamond Jubilee International tournament in June because of an injury.

However, national team head coach Istvan Urbanyi said at a press conference yesterday that Samooh’s absence was not solely due to his injury, but also related to mistakes he had made. Urbanyi said the defender had learned from those mistakes.

“It’s not just because of the injury. It’s also because of some things that happened between us,” Urbanyi said.

“But I believe that the most important thing is to learn from a mistake.”

Urbanyi handed the captain’s armband back to Samooh during yesterday’s press conference and said the door of the national team would remain open to players who learn from their mistakes.

“I’m hoping Samooh becomes a good leader of the team like he always seems to be,” Urbanyi said.

When asked about the nature of the issues between them, Urbanyi declined to disclose details, saying he considered the players members of his family and did not want to discuss what Samooh had done wrong publicly.

Samooh said he had remained in contact with the team while recovering from his injury.

“I was away from the team due to injury and I talked to the players and kept in touch,” he said.

“Even then, I talked to the players. I communicated with the coach. We all have to work as a unit,” Samooh said.

The Maldives are preparing for friendly matches against China, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon during the upcoming international break.

Maldives will face China on Thursday before travelling to Kyrgyzstan for matches against Kyrgyzstan on September 28 and Lebanon on October 1.