The crisis surrounding Malaysian football has deepened further with the resignation of the entire executive committee of the Malaysian Football Association and the recent controversy over the falsification of documents used to field foreign-born players in the Asian Cup qualifiers, damaging their qualifications.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) executive committee resigned on Wednesday amid intense scrutiny of the country’s football governance.
“The resignation is to protect (the association’s) reputation and institutional interests, and to reduce the risk of further negative consequences that could impact Malaysian football as a whole,” FAM acting president Yusof Mahdi said.
He said the executive committee’s resignation “will provide appropriate space for FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation to independently assess, consider and, if necessary, address governance, administrative and procedural issues within FAM.”
All committee members elected 11 months ago for the 2025-2029 term have resigned with immediate effect by a unanimous and voluntary decision to protect the integrity of the association.
In September, world soccer governing body FIFA suspended seven foreign-born players for one year and fined FAM $400,000 for submitting false documents claiming to be of Malaysian descent.
FAM appealed the sanction, but the FIFA Commission rejected it and issued a scathing report criticizing the association for “not taking any disciplinary action”.
ordered a full investigation into FAM’s conduct and governance.
FAM then appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, where the case is still pending.
However, the players were given permission to play for the national team on Tuesday after CAS temporarily suspended the suspensions imposed by FIFA while the players’ appeals were reviewed.
The players were from Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain, but were naturalized in an apparent violation of FIFA rules and played in a qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup, which Malaysia won against Vietnam.
FIFA had launched an investigation after receiving complaints after Malaysia defeated Vietnam 4-0 in June’s Asian Cup qualifiers.
FAM announced that CAS approved the request for a stay of execution, allowing the seven players to continue participating in all football-related activities until a final judgment is rendered. The participating players were Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, John Irazabal and Hector Heber, all of whom were part of the Harimau Malaya national team.
“This means that the 12-month suspension of all football activities imposed by FIFA on the seven players has been temporarily lifted,” the federation said in a statement. “They are now allowed to continue their careers and participate in football-related activities until CAS makes a final decision.”
He did not say when a final verdict is expected.
Last month, FIFA overturned the results of three matches in Malaysia over the disqualification of players.
FAM said that in its latest decision, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee also changed the results of three friendlies in which the player played: against Cape Verde on May 29, against Singapore on September 4 and against Palestine on September 8.
A FIFA spokesperson said: “All three matches were declared loses (score 3-0) and FAM was fined 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately $13,060). This decision is still subject to appeal.”
Malaysia drew 1-1 with Cape Verde and won 2-1 and 1-0 against Singapore and Palestine, respectively.
The scandal caused an uproar in Malaysia, with fans and some members of parliament demanding action against FAM and the government agency responsible for granting citizenship to the players.
