In a statement issued on January 28, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed that the entire Executive Committee for the 2025-2029 term has announced its resignation, after a scandal related to the use of illegal naturalized players.
According to FAM, this is a collective decision, made in the spirit of being responsible to the organization. The Executive Committee believes that the withdrawal is necessary to avoid negative impacts on the federation's reputation, creating conditions for independent agencies to conduct comprehensive reviews and investigations into controversial issues.
Although they have left their executive positions, former members of the FAM Executive Committee affirmed that they will continue to cooperate with international football governing bodies, and emphasized their commitment to putting the long-term interests of Malaysian football first in the current turbulent period.
The source of the crisis stems from the case of 7 naturalized players of the Malaysian national team accused of using invalid dossiers to qualify for international competition.
After a review process, FIFA issued a 12-month suspension for each player, and FAM had to pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs. Notably, the FIFA Complaints Committee rejected the entire complaint, upholding the issued disciplinary actions.
In another development, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) recently approved the temporary suspension of the penalty, allowing naturalized players to continue playing until a final verdict is issued.
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