Nearing 100, but nothing for FAM to celebrate

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will celebrate its centenary on Sept 11, 2026. But rather than a time for celebration, it should be one for introspection. The national body must look not at the past, but towards the future of Malaysian football – a future that remains bleak despite tens of millions of ringgit in funding, mostly from taxpayers, and years of unfulfilled promises. FAM’s mishandling of crucial matters in recent years, culminating in the ‘doctored documentation’ fiasco and a pattern of poor governance, has reached a tipping point. It’s time for change, because we’ve got 99 problems – and the first is FAM itself.

The question is: Is this the trajectory we want for the next 100 years?

The ‘doctored documentation’ scandal erupted when Fifa accused FAM of forging and falsifying documents to allow seven so-called ‘heritage’ players to represent Harimau Malaya. Fifa’s investigation found that the grandparents of the seven – Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vítor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Héctor Alejandro Hevel Serrano – were not born on Malaysian soil.

How did Malaysian officials, including those from national agencies, fail to detect such discrepancies?

For decades, FAM has struggled to raise the standard of Malaysian football. The national team’s highest-ever Fifa ranking was 75 in 1993. Today, Harimau Malaya sits at 123 – a figure that could worsen depending on Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation’s rulings on matches involving the seven players during the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Last week, national coach Peter Cklamovski claimed that it was Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, not FAM, who convinced Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to give funds to the national team. He also said that without the Crown Prince of Johor, football in Malaysia would be dead.

So, what’s next? Do we carry on as usual, clinging to hope that change will magically come, or do we demand accountability and a complete overhaul of those in office? It’s time to make way for new, untainted individuals unburdened by association with the current crop of office bearers.

FAM’s top management – particularly those overseeing the Harimau Malaya project, and its technical and legal departments – must come clean about what transpired, be held accountable, and face suspension pending the final appeal outcome.

The ‘doctored documentation’ fiasco has deeply embarrassed Malaysians, many of whom have voiced their anger and disappointment online.

The coming centenary can either signal the end of a rotten era or the beginning of genuine renewal. The choice lies with those in power – and with those courageous enough to challenge them.