“As far as FAM is concerned, we cannot simply release it because we do not want government interference in the association. We are somewhat different from other associations. That is why I do not want such a situation to occur.”
- FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman
The dribbling is below par, the defence invisible, and while they crawl at passing the ball, they sprint at passing the buck.
Now they expect us to swallow that transparency equals interference - proof that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) plays by its own rules, with a playbook written in bunkum.
When FAM claims that publishing an audit report is government meddling, it confuses oversight with intrusion. In reality, audits are the referee’s whistle of governance - meant to keep play fair, not to dictate tactics. Without them, mismanagement festers in the shadows.
If this is the case, then referees are intruders, scoreboards are spies, and fans should watch blindfolded. It’s a logic so twisted it would make even the weakest defence look solid by comparison.
Football associations worldwide, and even the sport’s governing body, publish financial and audit findings from time to time.
Transparency is not a luxury; it’s the baseline for credibility. To suggest otherwise is to admit that FAM prefers secrecy over scrutiny, a stance that leaves fans and stakeholders in the dark.
Fans, sponsors, and players invest not just money but faith in the institution. Shielding audit reports under the guise of “interference” erodes that trust. If transparency is treated as a threat, then accountability itself becomes the enemy - and it is a dangerous precedent for any sporting body.
FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman may have his wires crossed, not understanding the meaning of interference or knowing the basic requirements of good governance, transparency, and accountability.
Audit exposes erosion of finances
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, when tabling Budget 2025, announced RM15 million for FAM to support national football development. This was later doubled to RM30 million with additional private-sector funding.
And it came with a caveat from then-youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh – the money cannot be spent arbitrarily or used for salary payments, and should be used to develop the national senior team, the Under-18 team, and the Under-13 team.
Even with the cash injection, FAM’s finances are still gasping for air. Asian Football Confederation (AFC) deputy general secretary Vahid Kardany, who led the investigations, warned that FAM’s financial buffers have steadily eroded over the years.
(The AFC-International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) audit was commissioned after the resignation of FAM’s executive committee earlier this year.)
Besides, the audit found that 66 percent of FAM’s 2024 income came from Fifa and AFC grants, highlighting the governing body’s reliance on external funding sources.
More concerningly, Kardany said nearly 70 percent of expenditure was on staffing costs and national team operations, leaving only around 30 percent for football development initiatives.
The audit also revealed weaknesses in procurement practices, unclear approval processes, and the absence of a dedicated compliance officer or internal audit function.
If such indictments were not serious enough, there was a graver issue – FAM’s fixed deposits are shrinking, and if this trend continues, liquidity will eventually reach zero.
Crackdown on football bodies
Noor Azman’s interference claim holds no water. Multiple football associations across the globe have been indicted, dissolved, or heavily suspended by Fifa and state law enforcement agencies for massive financial corruption and systemic maladministration.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) suffered a complete institutional shutdown. In June 2018, an undercover documentary titled “Number 12: When Greed and Corruption Become the Norm” exposed widespread bribery across Ghanaian football.
The Ghanaian government dissolved the GFA, suspended all official footballing activities, and deployed state police to declare the GFA headquarters a crime scene. Fifa handed GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi a lifetime ban from football.
There were no claims of interference.
The Guatemalan Football Federation became a hub of federal criminal prosecution during the massive 2015 Fifa Corruption Investigation spearheaded by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
A US Federal Court indicted its president, Brayan Jiménez, and secretary-general Héctor Trujillo on charges of racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Fifa suspended the federation from all international competitions for nearly two years, cut off all funding, and installed a “normalisation committee” to fully rebuild the federation’s statutes.
However, in the case of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF), Fifa deemed it government interference because Kenyan authorities disbanded the federation’s executive committee following allegations of mismanagement and financial impropriety.
Public funding requires public accountability
In the case of FAM, despite multiple reports to the police and MACC, the government did not interfere.
Even the sports commissioner under the Sports Ministry’s purview, who has wide-ranging powers - from inspecting documents to scrutinising financial records- has yet to make a public announcement on the fiasco, let alone “interfere”.
So, where does this “fear” of interference come from? Making a report public cannot be deemed interference, to say the least. Especially after receiving RM30 million of taxpayers’ funds, FAM cannot continue to operate like an abang-adik (family) business, making its own rules as it goes along.
FAM cannot keep hiding behind the phantom of government interference. Transparency is not intrusion - it is the scoreboard of governance. With millions in taxpayer funds and a balance sheet propped up by foreign grants, FAM owes Malaysians more than excuses.
To classify accountability as meddling is to confess that secrecy is the true game plan. And in football, as in governance, you cannot win by hiding the score - you only forfeit the trust of fans. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN began his career as a sports reporter, cutting his teeth on the drama of games and the grit of athletes. Though his journalistic journey has since taken him into governance, accountability, and public affairs, he continues to make occasional forays back into the sports arena - drawn not just by scandals, scores, and statistics, but by other human stories that inspire. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.