As FAM leaders fall on their swords over the damaging naturalisation scandal, questions grow over why the national team’s head, Rob Friend, remains untouched — and why “matchday” seems to be his entire remit.
Mass resignations are supposed to draw a clean line under failure.
At the Football Association of Malaysia, that line came after Fifa ruled that falsified documents had been used to fast-track the naturalisation of seven players.
Fifa’s finding led to fines, player suspensions and an Asian Football Confederation governance probe.
Yet while elected officials quit, one senior person stayed: visible, vocal and untouched.
Who stayed standing?
His name is Rob Friend. FAM hired him in January last year to lead the national programme for Harimau Malaya.
In its written ruling on FAM’s appeal, the Fifa committee recorded that Friend “explained that he works in a consultant role to FAM.”
The panel also noted he told them he is based in Canada and travels to Malaysia mainly for matchdays.
Friend pushed back. He says the committee misunderstood him and that he told the hearing he is the national team’s chief executive, not a consultant.
He says his role in the FIFA case was advisory — helping FAM’s lawyers prepare — and that the written summary mangled that nuance.
Friend also told Fifa he only joined the naturalisation work on Aug 22, months after heritage recruitment had begun. He says he played no part in the earlier stages.
Put together, the account produces an awkward truth: the man who claims the top role says he was neither running the paperwork nor on the ground during the most consequential phase.
That gap is not a trivial inconsistency. It is a problem of authority.
The consultant-versus-boss contradiction
When a senior official can appear in Fifa’s records as a “consultant” and later claim the top operational post, this is not picky semantics.
It points to muddled roles and blurred accountability.
A national football chief does more than show up for kick-off. Today’s role includes strategy, regulatory oversight and damage control.
Treating it as a matchday gig reduces a senior job to a title on a press release.
Look at the Premier League. When eligibility breaches, financial missteps or governance failures surface, CEOs and sporting directors must answer publicly.
They explain internal controls and often resign if the system fails on their watch.
Absence is not an excuse. Being overseas does not remove responsibility.
If an executive in England claimed they only travelled for matches, the boardroom would demand answers. Kuala Lumpur should demand no less.
This crisis is not over. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has granted a temporary stay on Fifa’s bans for the seven players, a procedural pause, not vindication.
With CAS hearings this month, the controversy is active, not settled.
Optics matter. Trust matters more.
Three facts remain: FAM was sanctioned, results were overturned, and criminal and international scrutiny followed.
Against that record, it looks poor that someone who says he played a limited role represented the association in high-stakes proceedings.
If the people who ran the system have resigned, the person occupying the senior national post cannot remain an unexplained exception.
Reasonable transparency demands
This is not theatre, it is basic governance.
FAM should publish Friend’s contract, spell out reporting lines, and say who had final say over player eligibility.
The public should know whether his pay links to performance or sits beyond accountability.
If records show Friend had no hand in the naturalisation drive, produce them. If they show he did, then the moral calculus changes fast.
The unfriend button
This is not an accusation; it is a test of meaning.
A job title must match responsibility. Leadership proves itself when institutions falter.
If Friend’s defence rests on geography and wordplay, the remedy is old and simple: step aside so the game can be rebuilt.
If he truly was only a matchday presence, reclaim and rebrand the role.
If he was the operational head, accept that authority brings consequences.
Either way, Malaysian football needs clarity. It may be time to unfriend the matchday CEO. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
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