Malaysia soccer federation suspends senior official in fallout from FIFA cheating accusations

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The Football Association of Malaysia announced the suspension of its secretary general on Friday pending an investigation after soccer governing body FIFA accused the country of cheating by fielding ineligible players.

In September, FIFA suspended seven overseas-born players who all featured for Malaysia in a 2027 Asian Cup qualifier and fined FAM $438,000, citing falsified or doctored documentation involving the players’ grandparents. Malaysia beat Vietnam 4-0 in the June game.

FAM Vice President Sivasundaram Sithamparam Pillai said Friday that FAM has formed a committee to investigate the case and ensure similar incidents do not happen again. He said FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman has been suspended so that the committee can carry out its probe independently. No FAM members would be on the committee, he said, but gave no further details.

“FAM maintains that these players were lawfully naturalized in accordance with Malaysian law,” he said. “FAM remains steadfast in our mission to uphold transparency, to protect Malaysian football’s reputation.”

The case has been embarrassing for Malaysian soccer which currently has its former FAM president, Hamidin bin Haji Mohd Amin, sit on the 37-member FIFA Council.

Malaysia also had its king for the five years through 2024, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, as a member of FIFA’s ruling committee from 2015-19.

Serge Vittoz, an international sports lawyer representing FAM, said FIFA is set to make its decision on Malaysia’s appeal against the sanctions on Oct. 30. He said the main contention of the appeal was that FAM and the seven players were not responsible for any forgery.

“There was no forgery on the side of the players. There was no forgery on the side of the FAM as an institution and if any wrongdoing was done, it should be targeted to the person in question,” he said at a FAM press conference, without elaborating on who should be held responsible.

If unsuccessful, he said FAM will seek a reduction in its liability and may take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Forged documents

In its report last month, FIFA said FAM had submitted forged documents claiming the grandparents of the seven players were born in Malaysia — making them eligible to represent the country under FIFA’s nationality rules. The committee said original certificates showed the said family members had actually been born in the same countries as the players: Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.

The FIFA report said that FAM admitted it “was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and yet failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer