Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim told his critics to take him to court, after he was accused of involvement in falsifying several heritage football players' documents.
In a post on his X account this morning, Tunku Ismail suggested that the public sue him en masse.
"Agree! I have a better suggestion. Take me to court en masse with whatever evidence. Please," he said in reply to an X user's post.
The response comes after the user demanded that Tunku Ismail take responsibility following the Court of Arbitration for Sports’ (CAS) partly upholding the International Federation of Association Football's (Fifa) sanctions against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven heritage players, accused of using fraudulent documents to represent Harimau Malaya.
The user cited a post on the prince's X account dated Jan 11, 2025, which is still accessible, and in which the latter appealed to the government to help secure passports for the foreign-born players so they could represent the national squad in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
"It is important for Harimau Malaya to start the qualification campaign with a positive decision," the post read.
The players were all scouted in 2024, and the naturalisation process began later that year.
“Any which (court) works, sir," Tunku Ismail said in reply to another user, who asked if the lawsuit against him should be brought to the courts.
In a statement yesterday, the CAS said the panel found the 12-month ban against the players was “reasonable and proportionate”, given their complicity in falsifying eligibility documents.
This was despite FAM’s representations that the players had a limited role in preparing the documents it requested.
However, the CAS panel ruled that in accordance with Article 22 of the Football Disciplinary Code, the ban should apply only to official matches and not all football-related activities. The 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million) fine against FAM remains in place.
Offer to bankroll FAM's CAS case
Last year, Tunku Ismail reportedly offered to cover all expenses related to FAM's bid to bring its case to the CAS.
This came after Fifa's Appeal Committee upheld the decision to impose sanctions against FAM and its seven heritage players.
According to Harian Metro, the former FAM president said his gesture was a show of support for efforts to seek justice for the suspended players.
On Oct 9 last year, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat that he exercised his power granted under the Federal Constitution to consider the seven heritage footballers as fit to be granted Malaysian citizenship.
Saifuddin said Article 20(1)(e) provides discretionary power to a home minister when considering a citizenship application from a foreigner, particularly in the fulfilment of the minimum residency requirements.
"In the Constitution, there is a section called 20(1)(e), where the minister can use his discretionary powers.
"The power under 20(1)(e) means that the definition of 'residency' in the Constitution allows for the applicant's presence outside the country to still be considered as being within the country.
"That is the legal language used in this book, in this text. I applied Section 20(1)(e) to fulfil the residency requirement," he said.
Saifuddin also stressed that all seven players had fulfilled the requirements under the law to be granted citizenship by naturalisation, including having proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia.
It emerged later, however, that the seven footballers do not speak Bahasa Malaysia, based on their own admissions to Fifa.
FAM, in its submissions to Fifa, also acknowledged that certain members of its secretariat had made "administrative adjustments to foreign birth certificates" due to time constraints and in anticipation of official confirmations from Malaysian authorities.
However, it said this was done without the knowledge of the players, FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman, and the FAM executive committee.
IIC investigation led to nowhere
Last year, the independent probe into who purportedly falsified the birth certificates of the seven “heritage” players hit a roadblock, with crucial documents withheld and implicated parties refusing to cooperate, the panel said.
Former chief justice Raus Sharif chaired the panel, which also comprises former Court of Appeal judge Kamaludin Said, former Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) director-general Yusof Ismail, and senior lawyer Thavalingam C Thavarajah, who served as secretary.
In its 59-page report released on Nov 16, the four-member independent investigation committee (IIC) said its investigation is limited, as it does not have legal powers to demand documents, force people to attend interviews, or examine records forensically.
The panel said it could only work with materials provided voluntarily by FAM and the cooperation of those involved.
It also recommended disciplinary proceedings for Azman, who was suspended on Oct 17.
On Jan 8 this year, FAM lifted his suspension and cleared him of wrongdoing related to the alleged document forgery.
In a statement, FAM said Azman was only found to have committed “administrative negligence” and was thus allowed to resume his duties with immediate effect. - Mkini
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