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Bringing international shame and disgrace to Malaysia, backed by an equally shameless Government?Shameless cheating FAM and Malaysian Government?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnJ6u9kqlgI (What Is The FAM Football Scandal All About? (Apakah skandal bola sepak FAM?)
Mariam Mokhtar Admrl-Gen (rebuildingmalaysia)
198K subscribers
11 Oct 2025
Will heads roll in the "Heritage Footballers" scandal? What do you think? FIFA accused the players of cheating. The FAM and players deny this. Contrast this. Stateless children & foreign spouses of Malaysians endure years of waiting. Many are rejected However, heritage footballers who claim their grandmothers and granddads were from Malaysia, receive citizenship almost overnight. Can these players speak Malay which is a requirement in the Constitution? i) The SPEAKER of Parliament refused to allow a debate on these players. ii) A senior Umno-Baru politician said the players deserve the citizenship. What utter rubbish! He and the ministers who directly or indirectly approved the citizenship of the heritage footballers deserve to be kicked out of government. This Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) cheating scandal is not just about football. It is about our maruah, our integrity, rule of law, rights, justice and the nation's soul. The FAM and its players cheated. It has angered the rakyat. The cheating scandal is about the nation's soul which became tainted and corrupted by FAM and any officials who helped the heritage footballers cheat. Links/Sources: i. https://www.nst.com.my/sports/footbal... ii. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756724 iii. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756355 iv. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/710797 v. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/671774 vi. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756967 vii. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756504 viii. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756423 ix. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756499 x. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/756625 xi. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/757580 xii. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/757610 xiii. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/757541 xiv. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/757573
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11, 2025: Seven of the starting 11 in the Malaysian team that whipped Vietnam 4-0 on June 10 in the Asian Cup qualifying round surely looks like a United Nation (UN)’s team.
The seven players are from Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands with a grandparent from Malaysia were naturalised.
However, it was international shame for Malaysia when, on Sept 22, FIFA all seven “Malaysian” players were hit with a 12-month ban from all football, which came as a shock, not least to La Liga club Alavés as their defender Facundo Garcés had played in all six games of the current season before that. FIFA also fined FAM $438,000 (£325,000).
Details weren’t given, but the charges were that FAM had submitted eligibility enquiries to Fifa, and in doing so, it used doctored documentation to be able to field the above players”.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below two news reports, The Guardian and Singapore’s Channel News Asia (CNA), and the above video clip for readers to judge for themselves what the scandal is all about:
‘Sensationally damning’: Malaysian football rocked by naturalisation scandal
Seven national-team players, including one from La Liga, have been suspended by Fifa over claims of cheating
Wed 8 Oct 2025 11.35 BST
There hasn’t been that much to smile about for Malaysian football fans in recent years, so there was real jubilation among the 60,000 home spectators upon the final whistle in Kuala Lumpur on on 10 June. A 4-0 win over regional rivals Vietnam not just kept the Harimau Malaya (Malayan Tigers) on course for the 2027 Asian Cup but well and truly confirmed they were dining back at the top table in southeast Asia. Four months later, they are still the talk of the region of 650 million people, but not in a good way.
The story starts, as it does increasingly in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) football these days, with naturalisation. In January, the crown prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the owner of Johor Darul Ta’zim football club, and former president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), wrote on social media: “We have identified 6-7 heritage players … and hope the Malaysian government could assist in the process of obtaining Malaysian passports in order for them to play in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.”
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Seven players from Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands with a grandparent from Malaysia were naturalised. All seven played against Vietnam; two scored. The day after, we now know, Fifa received a complaint about their eligibility and started investigating.
On 22 September, came sanctions. All seven players were hit with a 12-month ban from all football, which came as a shock, not least to La Liga club Alavés as their defender Facundo Garcés had played in all six games of the current season before that. Fifa also fined FAM $438,000 (£325,000). Details weren’t given, but the charges were that the federation “had submitted eligibility enquiries to Fifa, and in doing so, it used doctored documentation to be able to field the above players”.
The reaction in Malaysia was split. Many were appalled, others took offence, suggesting the sanctions were a result of jealousy from rivals. The crown prince questioned the timing and said Malaysians should not bow down to “those individuals who are worried about the rise of Harimau Malaya. Fight on. Be brave for being right”. Conspiracy theories blocking the rise of a team ranked No 123 in the world seem a bit far-fetched, especially as Malaysia has more political clout than its regional rivals with a member on the Fifa council. The general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is also a role historically reserved for a Malaysian as the organisation is officially based in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia’s players celebrate scoring a goal against South Korea in the 2024 Asian Cup. Their participation in the 2027 tournament may now be under threat. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
On Monday evening came Fifa’s full 19-page report. It arrived as Malaysia slept and was some wake-up call, described by a source close to the organisation as “sensationally damning”. The highlight is a table in the document consisting of three columns. The first has the name of a grandparent, the second is headed “Birthplace (doctored documents)“ and listed states of Malaysia – Penang, Malacca, Johor and Sarawak – where FAM’s documents claimed they were born. The third column headed “Birthplace (original documents)” listed cities located in Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands where Fifa said they were actually born, namely the same countries as their grandchildren.
“Presenting fraudulent documentation with the purpose of gaining eligibility to play for a national team constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned,” stated Fifa’s report. “Such conduct erodes trust in the fairness of competitions and jeopardises the very essence of football as an activity founded on honesty and transparency.”
In response, FAM said it would launch an appeal. “Claims that players ‘acquired or were aware of fake documents’ are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far,” read a statement, the governing body adding that while there had been an administrative error when submitting documents: “FAM would like to assert that the heritage players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.”
Fifa has said it is confident in its ruling and so it remains to be seen what evidence FAM produces, if any, as part of its appeal. Sources close to Fifa say they believe the appeal will be aimed more at lessening the sanctions rather than overturning the decision.
And there’s more: the AFC has said it will wait until Fifa’s action is resolved before involving its own disciplinary committee. The body runs the Asian Cup and, if Malaysia’s guilt is confirmed, there is a possibility of them not being at the 2027 tournament. The players should try to make the most of Thursday’s qualifier against Laos as there may not be many competitive games in the near future.
After the full Fifa report was released, the reaction at home was fierce, not least because for people in most walks of life, acquiring Malaysian citizenship is a long and frustrating process. As the writer Haresh Deol put it when calling for heads to roll: “This fiasco goes beyond FAM and football. It strikes at the nation’s integrity. It’s a national embarrassment.”
It certainly does not do any favours for a country that has for a long time been known more in football terms for match-fixing and betting syndicates than anything on the pitch. For a while it looked as if that was going to change. - The Guardian
analysis Asia
FIFA’s fraud findings go beyond football scandal, with political ramifications for Malaysia
Citizenship has long been a contentious issue in Malaysia.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) scandal over the fielding ineligible foreign players to represent the country is presenting PM Anwar with a serious political challenge. (Photo: Reuters)
10 Oct 2025 06:00AM(Updated: 10 Oct 2025 06:07PM)
KUALA LUMPUR: The document fraud scandal rocking Malaysian football over the country’s fielding of ineligible foreign-born players is turning the heat on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government over its granting of citizenship that has long been a contentious issue in Malaysia.
The scandal, which led to world football governing body FIFA slapping Malaysia’s football association with a 350,000 Swiss franc (US$437,000) fine and banning seven foreign-born players who became naturalised citizens and represented the country, has prompted calls from the opposition for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the affair.
Takiyuddin Hassan, the chief Parliament whip for the opposition Perikatan Nasional coalition, said this week that the scandal went beyond “routine administrative errors”.
“This is not a technical mistake, but a deliberate act of fraud,” he said.
“The roles of JPN, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports must also be examined, including any potential elements of corruption, abuse of power, or political interference,” he added, referring to the National Registration Department (JPN).
Apart from an RCI into the matter, elected parliamentary representatives from Anwar’s own Pakatan Harapan coalition are insisting the Parliament debate the widening football scandal.
Football has a huge following in Malaysia and the unprecedented actions against the country, which has been a FIFA member since 1956, has put the Anwar government and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), the sports government body, on the backfoot.
When the scandal erupted on Sep 26 after FIFA announced its sanctions against Malaysia, Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told CNA that all foreign players were granted citizenship after a very rigorous process.
“They were given warganegara (citizenship in Malay) under the constitution. As far as the government is concerned, everything is in order based on the documents provided,” he said, adding that this was a matter between the FAM and FIFA.
On Thursday (Oct 9), Saifuddin reiterated in Parliament that all provisions in the Constitution were followed in the granting of citizenships to the seven foreign players.
“The matter of their eligibility to play is something between FIFA and FAM,” he said.
He did not respond to a fresh request from CNA for comment on how the government plans to deal with FIFA’s findings of forged birth certificates.
In its ground of decision released on Oct 6, FIFA said that the FAM and players used forged or falsified birth certificates of the players’ grandparents to secure their eligibility to play for the national team.
FIFA said such conduct “constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned”.
Sports commentators, lawyers and executives from sporting associations, including the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), have noted that FIFA’s assertions of Malaysia’s wrongdoings suggest that the controversy over the drafting of foreign players is not going away anytime soon.
“FIFA is very comprehensive and when it slaps sanctions based on forgery and falsification of documents (it) means that the body has very strong proof to back up its claims,” said Frankie D’Cruz, one of Malaysia’s most established sports journalists who writes regular commentaries on governance and athletes’ welfare.
“The real question here is how much was the government aware about what went on in the naturalisation and drafting of foreign players under the heritage players’ arrangement,” he told CNA.
FIFA's sanctions on FAM and the banning of seven foreign players who represented the country is shaking up the world of sports in Malaysia. (Photo: Reuters)
In a country where divisions over race and religion shape national politics, football has been a rare unifying force, particularly among younger Malaysians who are considered a crucial electoral voting block.
The latest scandal over Malaysia’s cavorting with foreign talent as a quick fix to capture football glory has incensed the domestic football community, noted analysts, citing the virulent comments and chatter on social media.
“The current situation is not just an administrative setback; it is a moral and governance crisis,” said sports commentator Christopher Raj, a former FAM executive member who has also served as media officer for FIFA.
“FAM must act now – decisively and openly – to prove that Malaysian football can rise from this embarrassment stronger and more credible than before.”
TROUBLING POLITICAL TANGENT
What’s more, the embarrassing turn of events is beginning to lurch onto a potentially troubling political tangent.
Malaysia has one of the region’s most stringent requirements for conferring citizenship, that in turn has led to huge debates over the high numbers of statelessness for foundlings and children born to unmarried mothers.
Home Minister Saifuddin told Parliament on Thursday that his ministry had received 49,000 citizen applications for citizenship, with 6,000 cases still pending.
He added that a total of 23 foreign football players, including the seven sanctioned ones, have received citizenship since 2018.
How the seven foreign footballers, hailing from Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain and Argentina, obtained their status as citizens, has put Anwar in an awkward spot, particularly ahead of a crucial state assembly election in the East Malaysian state of Sabah.
The issue of citizenship in Sabah, where Christians make up about 25 per cent of the population, is particularly sensitive.
A man sits at Teluk Likas beach overlooking the state administrative building in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. (Photo: CNA/Fadza Ishak)
Politics in the state has long been a mix of bloody demonstrations and clashes among the different ethnic groups and long-established tribal communities known as Kadazans.
Many Sabahans still view Anwar with distrust, according to political analysts in the state which dissolved its state assembly this week ahead of fresh polls that must be held in the next 60 days.
That’s because when he served as former premier Mahathir Mohamad’s deputy in government from 1993 to 1998, Anwar was alleged to have been involved in covert operations to alter the demographics of the state by issuing citizenships to illegal Muslim refugees from the neighbouring islands of southern Philippines and Indonesia.
The ensuing naturalisation of migrant communities that became citizens very much overnight in a scandal known as Project IC (or Project Identity Card) is widely deemed to have significantly diluted the political clout of Kadazan Sabahans in favour of Muslim communities, keeping the state’s political landscape on edge.
“The scars from Project IC are still fresh with many Sabahans and citizenship could become an electoral issue because it goes to show that this has long been a political tool,” said a senior politician from Parti Bersatu Sabah, a Kadazan-dominated party who requested not to be named. - CNA
How deceit and fraud have shamed Malaysian football
The greed to rely on foreign players for easy victories has shattered the hard work and genuine efforts of local talents.
October 12, 2025 10:48 AM
Malaysian football, once celebrated as the game of the ordinary person, has been catapulted into an international arena of deceit, corruption, and disrepute.
It may take years, perhaps decades, for Malaysian football to regain its lost credibility and international reputation. The greed to rely on foreign players for easy victories has shattered the hard work and genuine efforts of local talents who once formed the pride of the nation.
At the national level, homegrown players are being sidelined in favour of imported talents.
Third- and fourth-rate foreign players are being bought and fast-tracked to citizenship through deceitful means, all in the desperate hope of winning matches.
The recent exposure by FIFA of how the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) attempted to legitimise seven foreign players by doctoring documents has destroyed the country’s already fragile reputation.
These forged documents, reportedly passed from the National Registration Department (NRD) to FIFA, revealed the extent of the manipulation before the fraud was finally uncovered.
In an attempt to cover up this embarrassing international scandal, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution invoked his ministerial discretion under the law to justify granting citizenship to the seven players from Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil and Argentina.
What is deeply troubling, however, is the selective use of discretionary powers. While hundreds, if not thousands, of eligible individuals have been waiting for years or even decades for their rightful citizenship, foreign players were granted it almost instantly. This blatant double standard raises more questions than answers.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad bluntly stated that powerful figures in the country who are "above the law" are behind the decision to grant citizenship to these players.
Malaysia has long experimented with hiring expensive foreign players, yet their presence has done little to improve the quality of local football, especially in national tournaments.
The granting of citizenship to these players makes little sense when, once their contracts or playing days are over, they are likely to leave the country altogether.
Saifuddin went so far as to defend his decision by claiming that the players were proficient in the Malay language.
However, he never disclosed how their language proficiency was tested, nor did he provide any credible justification for invoking his discretionary powers in this case.
The scandal surrounding FAM and the home ministry is not merely about football. It reflects the deeper rot of selective governance and misplaced priorities in Malaysia’s public institutions.
P Ramasamy is the former deputy chief minister of Penang and chairman of Urimai.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.
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