Top Malaysian football officials quit over foreign-born players scandal
Entire executive committee of game’s governing body in country resigns to ‘mitigate risk’ of further punishment, acting president says
The entire executive committee of Malaysia’s football association resigned on Wednesday, the latest blow in a damaging eligibility row over forged documents used to field foreign-born players in Asian Cup qualifiers.
The move follows Fifa’s investigation last year into the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) over its inclusion of “heritage players” in the national team – foreign-born athletes accused of falsely claiming Malaysian ancestry.
“The resignations are to safeguard the reputation and institutional interests of [the association] and to mitigate the risk of further adverse consequences that could affect Malaysian football as a whole,” Yusoff Mahadi, FAM’s acting president, told reporters.
He described the move as voluntary, and a “measured and principled step taken in response to recent developments that have attracted significant public attention and external scrutiny”.
Wednesday’s resignations will “provide the appropriate space for Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation to independently assess, review, and, where necessary, address governance, administrative, and procedural matters within FAM”, Yusoff added.
Fifa suspended seven foreign-born players for a year in September and fined the FAM US$400,000 for submitting doctored papers claiming they had Malaysian ancestry.