‘I’M NOT INTERESTED TO BE IN FAM’ - TUNKU MAHKOTA ISMAIL

PETALING JAYA, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- The Regent of Johor Tunku Mahkota Ismail has made it clear that he is not interested in returning to helm the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), despite having previously served as its president.

Tunku Mahkota Ismail, who was FAM president from 2017 to 2018, said the position requires a full-time commitment, which he cannot provide due to his many official responsibilities.

“I was there before, I feel in terms of my time, I cannot be 24 hours, 24/7 because of all my other official duties. Therefore, we trust that other individuals are qualified and they can run the football association better because a president needs to be full-time,” he told a press conference here, today.

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He also commended former FAM president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin, who is now its honorary president, for his dedication and service to Malaysian football.

“I think Dato Hamidin, at that point when he was the president, did a very good job because he was 24/7, whether it was with the youth team or the senior team. And I have a lot of other responsibilities, so obviously I cannot be there, plus I am not even interested to be there,” said Tunku Mahkota Ismail.

Tunku Mahkota Ismail also clarified that his attendance in press conference today was not in an official capacity but as part of his commitment to Malaysian football, having helped secure additional government funding for the national team including players’ allowances, coaches and staff.

When asked if his involvement posed a conflict of interest as he is the owner of Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), Tunku Mahkota Ismail firmly denied the claim, saying his role is purely out of goodwill and his desire to contribute to the national football ecosystem.

Of the 27 players proposed by agents for the heritage player initiative, only seven were approved by the National Registration Department (JPN), though he pledged to continue exploring such potential while maintaining a focus on nurturing local talent.

“Of course, in the future, we will still look into this because we do have good local talents here, but if we do have other players who are playing in better leagues or for a better level, and if they want to represent their country, I feel that is only natural in the best interest of the performance of the national team,” he said.

Last month, FAM and seven heritage players, namely Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel, were sanctioned by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee after being found to have violated Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code regarding the forgery of documents.

In a previous statement, FIFA informed that FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the eligibility of the players to compete in the third round of the 2027 Asia Cup Qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.

Following that, FAM was fined CHF 350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million), while each player was fined CHF 2,000 (around RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the date the notice of the decision was issued.

In an earlier explanation, FAM stated that a technical error occurred in the process of submitting documents involving the seven players, which was carried out by an administrative officer.

FAM also did not rule out the possibility of taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if the appeal at the FIFA level does not yield positive results.

-- BERNAMA