The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced the suspension of its secretary general on Friday pending an investigation after FIFA said the country had cheated by fielding ineligible players.
Last month, FIFA suspended seven overseas-born players who all featured for Malaysia in a 2027 Asian Cup qualifier and fined FAM US$438,000, citing falsified or doctored documentation involving the players’ grandparents.
Malaysia beat Vietnam 4-0 in the June game.
Photo: AP
FAM vice president Sivasundaram Sithamparam Pillai said that the FAM has formed a committee to investigate the case.
He said that FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman has been suspended so that the committee can carry out its probe independently. No FAM members would be on the committee, he said, but gave no further details.
“FAM maintains that these players were lawfully naturalized in accordance with Malaysian law,” he said. “FAM remains steadfast in our mission to uphold transparency, to protect Malaysian football’s reputation.”
The case has been a setback for Malaysian soccer at a time when former FAM president Hamidin bin Haji Mohd Amin sits on the 37-member FIFA Council.
Former Malaysian king Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was also a member of FIFA’s ruling committee from 2015 to 2019.
Serge Vittoz, an international sports lawyer representing FAM, said FIFA is set to make its decision on Malaysia’s appeal against the sanctions on Oct. 30.
He said the main contention of the appeal was that FAM and the seven players were not responsible for any forgery.
“There was no forgery on the side of the players. There was no forgery on the side of the FAM as an institution, and if any wrongdoing was done, it should be targeted to the person in question,” he said at a FAM news conference, without elaborating on who should be held responsible.
If unsuccessful, he said FAM would seek a reduction in its liability and might take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In its report last month, FIFA said FAM had submitted forged documents saying the grandparents of the seven players were born in Malaysia — making them eligible to represent the country under FIFA’s nationality rules.
The committee said original certificates showed the said family members had been born in the same countries as the players: Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.
The FIFA report said that FAM admitted it “was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and yet failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation.”
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
Australian restaurant chain Grill’d has made a cheeky apology for putting a “curse” on Oscar Piastri’s Formula One title hopes with their offer of a free burger for every time the McLaren driver gets on the podium. The Melbourne native has not finished in the top three since the promotion relaunched five races ago, losing the championship lead to teammate Lando Norris and now 24 points behind. Online conspiracy theorists have been quick to put two and two together. The chain’s Piastri 81 Burger debuted ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in March, with his endorsement, and was relaunched in September after he
RSS