Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) officials should resign from their posts if they committed wrongdoings linked with the alleged forgery of citizenship documents for seven “heritage” players, said Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.
Tunku Ismail also took a jab at FAM, disparaging the national football body’s supposedly lacklustre contributions to the local football development scene.
“If there were oversights by anyone in FAM’s administration, they should resign. Why are they even there (in FAM)? All this time they’ve been there, what have they actually done for football? Tell me.
“Whoever is working there, for example, if an administrator made mistakes, should resign. Even if the CEO overlooked something and caused wrongdoings - resign. Take responsibility,” His Royal Highness said at a session with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) FC fans in Johor Bahru today.
The JDT owner, however, noted that FAM’s insistence on bringing the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) should be understood as a sign of confidence in their case.
“If (the documents in question) were really wrong, do you think we would dare to go all the way to CAS? Even if we lose (the case at the CAS), so what? It doesn’t mean football dies.
“We try again, as much as we can, until we reach our goal - that’s the idea,” Tunku Ismail said.
Fifa sanctions
The International Federation of Association Football’s (Fifa) previously initiated an investigation into FAM and seven Harimau Malaya players - Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Manchuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel.
On Sept 26, Fifa said the players were guilty of violating Article 22 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code (FDC) related to document falsification.
The global football body’s probes found that FAM had submitted allegedly falsified documents to confirm the eligibility of the players, allowing them to compete in the third round match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers on June 10, where Malaysia won 4-0 against Vietnam.
Consequently, FAM was ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million), while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs and suspended from all football-related activities for 12 months.
FAM has since suspended its secretary-general, Noor Azman Rahman, and announced an independent probe.
Following the Fifa Appeal Committee’s Nov 3 rejection of an appeal filed by FAM and the players, which claimed a technical error, FAM had on Dec 8 submitted its Statement of Appeal to the CAS.
‘Don’t go to CAS’
Commenting on FAM’s bid to bring the case to the CAS, Tunku Ismail claimed today that a Fifa representative had advised FAM against bringing the matter to the Switzerland-headquartered court.
Without naming the Fifa official who is said to have issued the remark, Tunku Ismail said “someone from Fifa” had contacted FAM honorary president Hamidin Amin, who is also a Fifa Council member, to relay the alleged message.
“They (Fifa) don’t want us to go to the CAS - I don’t know why. It’s not that they didn’t allow us (to appeal the sanctions at CAS), they just said ‘if it’s possible, don’t go to CAS’,” the Johor regent said.
“(But), we’re still going to CAS. Win or lose, wallahualam (only God knows).”
Tunku Ismail also reiterated his defence of the seven players involved in the scandal, insisting that questioning the National Registration Department’s (NRD) integrity could lead to a slippery slope where the citizenship of every Malaysian is questioned.
“Say you have two documents - a foreign one saying that your grandfather was born overseas, and another local one saying your grandfather was born here. Which one is correct?
“Why does theirs have to be correct and ours have to be wrong? If our documents are wrong, you all might not be Malaysians - you could be Indonesians. If you can question NRD’s documents, maybe none of you are Malaysians,” he wryly added.
Pointing fingers
He also lashed out at certain quarters who he said appeared intent on “blaming” him for the situation affecting FAM and the national players, highlighting that such unfounded accusations do not tally with his contributions to the football scene.
Tunku Ismail said such finger-pointing aimed at him is often coupled with a lack of focus on more pressing issues, such as concerns about why Malaysian football “is not progressing”.
“Like the crisis of financial mismanagement in clubs, and inadequate grassroots development - why don’t these topics ever come up? Players not getting their salaries also get no media coverage.
“Everyone wants to point fingers, everyone wants to act like they’re right. Even if they blame me, what do they get out of it? I’m still here. I still love football. I don’t understand what their initiative or main agenda is,” he lamented. - Mkini
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