An anti-graft watchdog says the manner in which the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had handled the scandal surrounding falsified documents underscores a “disturbing” lack of accountability at the highest level of the body.
The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) said that despite widespread outrage over the controversy, FAM had done little to make amends.
World footballing body Fifa had said that contrary to documents submitted by FAM claiming that the grandparents of seven naturalised players were born in Malaysia, its own investigation found original records indicating the grandparents were actually born in Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands.
In a statement today, C4 said FAM’s response to the scandal was only to blame a “technical error” on an administrative staff, suspend general secretary Noor Azman Rahman, and establish a yet-to-be-named “independent committee” to investigate the matter nearly a month after the scandal broke.
“FAM has been disturbingly opaque in its statements responding to the issue,” it said.
“Until now, the public remains unsure if FAM even possesses proper documentation proving the Malaysian heritage of the seven players, opting to hide behind secrecy laws such as the Official Secrets Act 1972 and the Passport Act 1966.
“C4 demands that all parties involved take immediate accountability for this scandal, and stresses that the continued failure to do so reflects a worsening accountability crisis in Malaysia.”
The NGO said the sequence of events left many unanswered questions, including the identity of the agent who submitted the allegedly falsified documents, the nature of those documents, and whether home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail bore responsibility for approving the disputed citizenships.
It also said there were doubts about why only Noor Azman was held accountable, the true independence of FAM’s investigation committee, and the lack of transparency in revealing the committee members.
Last month, Fifa’s disciplinary committee penalised FAM and the seven naturalised players – Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel – after they were found guilty of violating its disciplinary code related to document falsification.
As part of the sanctions, Fifa imposed a RM1.9 million fine on FAM as well as a RM11,000 fine and 12-month suspension for each player.
FAM’s appeal against the sanctions will be decided by Fifa’s appeal committee on Oct 30.
