Malaysia football suspends a top official over Fifa eligibility scandal

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said on Friday it had suspended its secretary general and will form an independent committee to investigate a “technical error” that led to Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, suspending seven naturalised players of the national team over the alleged use of doctored documents.

During a heated press conference, FAM and its legal team denied it had committed forgery, but declined to address repeated questions from reporters on how the players were naturalised, pending its appeal against the ban.

The scandal has sparked uproar in Malaysia, with fans and some lawmakers calling for heads to roll at FAM, as well as government agencies responsible for granting citizenship to the players.

FAM Vice-President S Sivasundaram said the organisation’s Secretary General Noor Azman Rahman had been suspended effective immediately to allow for an independent probe.

The Fifa disciplinary committee last week said Malaysian authorities may have relied on forged documents to naturalise the mixed-heritage players Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.

It also accused FAM of failing to conduct due diligence, after Fifa was able to obtain birth certificates that had significant discrepancies with those submitted by FAM to show the players’ Malaysian lineage.