FAM admits to making ‘administrative adjustment’ to birth certs, says Fifa

Fifa says FAM contends that the conduct in question was isolated, unauthorised, and not indicative of institutional policy or systemic misconduct.

According to Fifa, FAM said alterations were made to foreign birth certificates without the knowledge or authorisation of its executive committee or general secretary Noor Azman Rahman. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Fifa today said the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has acknowledged that certain members of its secretariat made “administrative adjustments” to foreign birth certificates due to time constraints and in anticipation of official confirmations from Malaysian authorities.

Fifa said that according to FAM, these alterations were undertaken without the knowledge or authorisation of FAM’s executive committee or its general secretary Noor Azman Rahman.

FAM also claimed that the seven players at the centre of an ongoing scandal over falsified documents had no knowledge of the matter, said Fifa’s appeal committee in its written decision confirming sanctions on FAM and the seven players.

In support of this, FAM filed a witness statement by Noor Azman, which was reproduced in the written decision issued today.

“I acknowledge that members of FAM’s administration engaged in handling and formatting certain copies of birth certificates and related supporting documents in the course of building complete eligibility files,” said Noor Azman, who has been suspended from FAM.

“This included the altered content of the birth certificates received from the players’ agents.

“These steps, while administratively motivated, were not a substitute for obtaining certified copies or official extracts, nor were they authorised as an official verification process.”

FAM, in its submission to Fifa’s appeal committee, also said Article 22 of Fifa’s disciplinary code concerning forgery and falsification – which permits an association to be held liable for acts of forgery or falsification by its officials or players – is discretionary in nature in that it does not impose automatic liability.

FAM contended that the conduct in question was isolated, unauthorised, and not indicative of institutional policy or systemic misconduct, said Fifa.

“There was no organisational scheme to fabricate lineage or circumvent eligibility rules.

FAM added that its “proactive engagement” with Fifa and local authorities – including voluntarily submitting eligibility queries, seeking verification of civil-status records, and cooperating fully with investigators – should weigh against any conclusion of institutional deceit or reckless conduct.

FAM and the seven naturalised Malaysian footballers were penalised by Fifa in September after the world football body said FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the players’ eligibility before Malaysia’s 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam on June 10.

Fifa’s regulations allow players to represent a country if their parents or grandparents were born there.

Fifa previously said that contrary to documents submitted by FAM claiming that the grandparents of the seven naturalised players were born in Malaysia, its own investigation found original records indicating that the grandparents were actually born in Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million) while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (about RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the date of notification.

The seven players are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.

On Nov 3, Fifa announced that it had rejected FAM’s appeal against its sanctions “in its entirety” and that Harimau Malaya’s points in their ongoing 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign might be docked.

Upon receiving the written decision from Fifa’s appeal committee today, FAM said it would be appealing the sanctions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. - FMT