The Malaysian Football Association’s entire executive committee resigned on Wednesday, the latest blow in a damaging row over eligibility over forged documents used to field foreign-born players for Asian Cup qualifiers.
“The dismissal is intended to safeguard (the association’s) reputation and institutional interests and to limit the risk of further adverse consequences that could affect Malaysian football as a whole,” acting president Yusoff Mahadi told reporters.
FIFA in September suspended seven foreign-born players for one year and fined the Malaysian Football Association (FAM) $400,000 for submitting false documents claiming they were of Malaysian descent.
Also read | From Montevideo to Lusail: full list of cities where the FIFA World Cup Final will take place
Football’s global governing body had launched an investigation after receiving a complaint following Malaysia’s 4-0 defeat to Vietnam in June’s Asian Cup qualifier.
FAM appealed the sanctions, but a FIFA committee rejected them and issued a scathing report criticizing the association for having “taken no discernible disciplinary action”.
It ordered a full investigation into the conduct and governance of the FAM.
FAM has since appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, where the case is pending.
Wednesday’s resignation will «provide FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation with the appropriate space to independently review, assess and, where necessary, address governance, administrative and procedural matters within the FAM,» Yusoff said.
Published on January 28, 2026
