FAM President was 'kicked out' causing big changes in the Malaysian team, will FIFA ban it?

According to expert Pekan Ramli, the power struggle among the top brass of the Malaysian Football Association (FAM) will endanger the country's national team from qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup, as well as potentially being banned by FIFA.

Malaysian football is in turmoil since the former president became honorary president.

According to Mr. Pekan Ramli, the fact that the current FAM President Joehari Ayub suddenly disappeared from important events of this organization, shows "signs of political manipulation", New Straits Times quoted on August 22. And added that the rumor that Mr. Joehari will be removed (from the position of president), and Mr. Yusoff Mahadi, vice president, will take over, is growing.

Malaysian football has been experiencing major changes since the match against Vietnam on June 10.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

This development puts FAM at high risk of having to hold an extraordinary election. This includes the controversial player naturalization policy in Malaysian football.

The current FAM President, Joehari Ayub, was only elected in February this year for a term from 2025 to 2029. After an uncontested election, Joehari Ayub became the first person from Sabah to lead Malaysian football. He became the 8th FAM President in history, succeeding Hamidin Mohd Amin.

“Before Hamidin stepped down, there were calls for him to do so. Then a new chairman took over, and netizens welcomed Joehari’s appointment. But when Hamidin was appointed honorary chairman, it created negative perceptions,” Pekan said.

In an interview published in the New Straits Times , Mr Pekan added: "It looks like it was planned. If it is, it is a shame. If you are not completely honest about your intentions, then give up that position. What is happening now is just a bad kind of politics, which will one day become a typical example for sports associations."

Accordingly, Mr. Hamidin's return as Honorary President of FAM is said to still have opinions on important policies of this football agency. From there, Mr. Joehari's power is affected and also under a lot of pressure. In particular, the issue of needing to clarify the records of naturalized players who are said to have unclear origins has also caused much controversy up to now.

All the attention in the power struggle at the top of FAM is currently focused on one person, Vice President Yusoff Mahadi, who has been with FAM since 2017. Mr. Yusoff is said to be close to former President Hamidin.

When asked at Wisma FAM (FAM headquarters), Yusoff brushed aside questions about his “promotion chances”, saying: “Next time, wait until next week” (it will be clear)”, the New Straits Times reported, adding that, so far, FAM has remained silent on the matter, with its officials refusing to shed light on the situation.

Meanwhile, commentator Pekan stressed: "Mr. Joehari won overwhelmingly (in the election), which means the members have placed their trust in him. We need to respect that decision. It is unreasonable to reverse the decision after only a few months.

This is the national football body, and the politicisation here is too obvious. There can be no cronyism here. The individual chosen must be reputable, competent and without any baggage that could hinder his acceptance. Otherwise, the next president risks being a mere yes-man, a puppet of the system. And Malaysian football will pay the price."

In addition, the infighting at the top of Malaysian football could lead to a ban from FIFA if the presidential election process is found to be problematic and the current president's position is "kicked out" with signs of manipulation and "political tricks".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chu-tich-fam-bi-da-ghe-doi-tuyen-malaysia-bien-dong-lon-fifa-se-cam-van-185250823094722351.htm