Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman has been suspended amid the ongoing probe involving falsified player documentations, according to media reports in Malaysia.
Noor’s suspension is immediate, with FAM’s deputy president S Sivasundaram reportedly saying on Friday (Oct 17) that a committee will be formed to prevent the issue from happening again.
Malaysia football had been rocked by the revelation that doctored documentation was used to be able to field seven players, breaching article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code that is concerned with forgery and falsification.
FIFA had in September banned the seven players – Facundo Garces, Gabriel Arrocha, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel – handing them a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities.
FIFA also ordered the FAM to pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (US$443,397) while the players have been fined 2,000 Swiss francs each.
“Further, the matter of the players’ eligibility to play for the representative team of Malaysia has been referred by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to the FIFA Football Tribunal for consideration,” FIFA added.
FAM officially lodged an appeal on Oct 14, the deputy president was reported saying. The outcome of the appeal will be delivered on Oct 30.
Sivasundaram maintained that the seven players were lawfully naturalised in accordance with Malaysian law, reported news outlet Bernama.
He also urged the media and public to remain patient as the association defends this case.
The football association last month acknowledged a “technical error” in submitting documents for the naturalised players.
Noor said on Facebook then that FAM is awaiting the full judgment from FIFA before filing an appeal in accordance with the existing legal process.
“FAM takes this matter seriously. However, FAM would like to emphasise that the heritage players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens,” said Noor at the time.
Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported that the deputy president said that the error became the focal point of FIFA’s investigation after a Vietnamese individual lodged a complaint in June, questioning the authenticity of the documents.
Malaysia had beaten Vietnam 4-0, and FIFA received a complaint about several players’ eligibility after the match.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-football-association-secretary-general-suspended-player-falsified-documentation-issue-fifa-5408931
