Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) will continue to balance the need to comply with international regulations and the demands for domestic accountability regarding the issue of documentation for seven national heritage football players. Its Minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated that this step is crucial to ensure that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) strengthens its governance and restores public confidence in the integrity and credibility of national football.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Hannah emphasized that such a suspension would not only affect the main national team but also involve all age-group teams, as well as other parties like the Malaysian Football League (MFL), Amateur Football League (AFL), and the clubs competing in the Malaysian League. She highlighted that this action would impact the entire local football ecosystem. Additionally, she noted the necessity for the government to be cautious on this issue because any form of intervention could lead to FAM being suspen
ded by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
Hannah Yeoh detailed the history of international football where several countries, including Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Benin, and Brunei, faced suspension by FIFA due to government interference. These examples illustrate FIFA’s firm stance in upholding Statute 15(c), which requires every football association to be free from any political or government interference, a fundamental principle of membership for any country under the organization.
Furthermore, she mentioned that KBS, through the Sports Commissioner’s Office, will collaborate closely with the Independent Special Investigation Committee led by former Chief Justice, Tun Md Raus Sharif, on this matter. The results of this investigation will serve as the basis for the implementation of corrective and improvement measures that FAM must comply with.
Yesterday, FIFA rejected the appeal made by FAM and the seven players involved, namely Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo H
olgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel. The FIFA Appeal Committee upheld the sanctions imposed by the governing body’s Disciplinary Committee against FAM and the seven heritage players for offences related to forgery of documents under Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC).
As a result, FAM was ordered to pay a fine of CHF350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million), while each player was fined CHF2,000 (around RM11,000). The seven players were also suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities. FAM Acting President Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi expressed surprise at the decision and indicated that the association will write to FIFA to obtain the full details and written reasons for the decision before determining the next step to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).