Fifa slams FAM for ‘shielding’ officials behind falsified documents

FAM deputy president S Sivasundaram (centre) told a press conference on Nov 17 that FAM had yet to identify those involved in submitting falsified birth documents to Fifa.

PETALING JAYA: Fifa’s appeal committee has criticised the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for “shielding” those responsible for submitting falsified birth documents in a bid to allow naturalised players to play for Harimau Malaya.

Last month, FAM claimed the dispute with Fifa stemmed from an “administrative error” after a staff member mistakenly uploaded documents from an agent instead of the official ones issued by the national registration department (JPN).

When asked if action had been taken against the staff member for the error, FAM deputy president S Sivasundaram told a press conference on Nov 17 that FAM had yet to identify those involved.

Fifa’s appeal committee said it was both “surprised” and “disappointed” with FAM’s failure to identify the individuals responsible for the tampering, their rank, or their specific roles within the association.

The committee, in its written judgment upholding the sanctions meted out on FAM and the seven players in September, said the failure was “deeply troubling”.

It also highlighted FAM’s lack of discernible disciplinary action – such as “concrete” suspensions, dismissals, or referrals to domestic authorities – against the officials involved in the fiasco.

“This omission suggests a lack of accountability and raises serious concerns about the governance within the organisation.

“The continued shielding of confessed culpable staff members, coupled with vague assertions of administrative error, appears to be a tactical manoeuvre designed to deflect institutional responsibility while preserving internal cohesion.

“The committee notes with concern that despite several months having elapsed since the initiation of the matter, FAM has failed to identify the individuals responsible for the forgery of documents despite FAM’s admission of tampering with them.

“The committee’s view is that this inability to establish accountability raises serious questions about FAM’s internal controls and true commitment to integrity.”

The committee said FAM general-secretary Noor Azman Rahman’s acknowledgment in a hearing that members of FAM’s administration “engaged in handling and formatting certain copies of birth certificates… including the altered content” constituted a direct confession of document tampering.

FAM and seven naturalised Malaysian footballers were penalised by Fifa in September after the world football body said FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the players’ eligibility prior to Malaysia’s 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam on June 10.

FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million) while the players – Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel – were each fined 2,000 Swiss francs (about RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities.

Fifa previously said it had obtained the original birth certificates of the players’ grandparents directly from foreign registries and compared them with those filed by FAM, and that it was “comfortably satisfied” that the documents were forged after finding “sharp contrasts” between the originals and those sent by FAM.

The results showed that details in the players’ ancestral records had been altered, with their grandparents’ birthplaces changed from Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands in the original documents to places in Melaka, Penang, Johor, and Sarawak.

Following the sanctions, FAM cited a “technical error” in the documents submitted to field the players against Vietnam.