Asian Football Confederation to review Malaysia FA as officials quit

The Football Association of Malaysia on Wednesday said its executive committee for the 2025-2029 term will resign effective immediately, as the Asian Football Confederation conducts a review into the organisation that is facing a widening document forgery scandal.

FAM has been struggling to defend itself against claims by world soccer's governing body FIFA that it used doctored documentation to allow seven naturalised players to participate in an Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam last year.

In September, FIFA suspended the footballers for 12 months and fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs ($439,257), though the Court of Arbitration of Sport this week allowed a temporary stay on the player bans pending an appeal by the Malaysian association.

FAM acting president Mohd Yusoff Mahadi on Wednesday said all members of the association's executive committee, who were appointed 11 months ago, made the decision to resign to protect the organisation's integrity as it looks to implement reforms and contain further fallout from the scandal.

"This was done ... to put the interests of football and FAM above all else," he said.

A small team led by the association's secretary-general will temporarily manage its day-to-day affairs with assistance from the AFC until a new committee can be appointed, he said.

The Kuala Lumpur-based governing body will also conduct a review into FAM's internal management and administrative processes.

"We want to identify the weaknesses and gaps that we can benchmark against a modern and standard association," said AFC general secretary Windsor John.

No timeframe has been set for the review, he added.

FIFA has dismissed appeals by FAM and last month overturned the results of three matches involving Malaysia. It also said it would launch a formal probe into FAM's internal operations and notify authorities in five countries of potential criminal proceedings.

The scandal sparked uproar in Malaysia, with fans and several lawmakers calling for action to be taken against FAM and government agencies responsible for granting citizenship to the players.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has promised transparency in domestic probes into the alleged forgery, but stressed that FAM should be allowed to defend itself.

(Reporting by Hasnoor Hussein; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)