According to Malaysian media, former ACFA Chairman Datuk Yusoff Mahadi said that candidates running for president of the federation need to receive approval from Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim - owner of Johor Darul Ta'zim club. This statement raised many concerns about the independence of the federation's operations.
Some legal experts in the field of sports believe that if the above information reflects reality, this may be a sign of violating FIFA regulations related to the principle of independence in national football management.
Sports lawyer Nik Erman Nik Roseli believes that the above statement may raise suspicions of violating Article 19 of the FIFA Charter - which stipulates that member federations must operate independently and not be subject to third-party interference.
According to Mr. Nik Erman, although Article 19 does not specifically define the concept of "third party", in practice, FIFA often considers individuals or organizations not belonging to the structure elected or appointed under the federation's charter as objects not allowed to interfere in governance activities.
Previously, FIFA had applied disciplinary measures to a number of federations for violating the principle of independence, such as Kenya (in 2022), Pakistan (2017 and 2021), Kuwait (2015), Indonesia (2015) and Nigeria (2014).
However, according to experts' assessment, most of the previous cases were related to direct interference in football management activities, while the situation being discussed in Malaysia is currently only at the level of suspected indirect interference.
Previously, FAM was also involved in the case of naturalized players using invalid records. After being sanctioned by FIFA, the related players appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On March 5, CAS rejected the appeal and upheld the disciplinary sentence, and allowed the players to continue training with the club during the execution period.
