All At Fam Should Take Responsibility For Fifa Fiasco Says Tmj

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The Tunku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, says many were involved in the signing of the naturalised players.
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said he does not agree with the suspension of the FAM general secretary over the controversy. (Bernama pic)SUBANG JAYA: The Tunku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, has called for the Football Association of Malaysia to take full responsibility in the controversy surrounding allegations that falsified documents were submitted to Fifa on the issue of naturalised players
Tunku Ismail said he did not agree with the suspension of FAM general secretary Noor Azman Rahman over the issue.
“I don’t agree with Noor Azman’s suspension. In fact, many people were involved in signing these players.
“To me, everyone should take responsibility, including the (Harimau Malaya squad) CEO and those in management,” he told a press conference at a hotel here today.
He also said the list of players had been presented to him and the Tengku Muda, Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah, by several football agents last year.
“There were about 27 or 28 players recommended. Only seven cleared checks by both FAM and the national registration department. I thought it was good enough and approved it. I didn’t go through every detail,” he said.
Asked about claims of document forgery, Tunku Ismail said he was not directly involved in the technical process of registration.
“When it comes to details and technicalities, I was not involved. That is why FAM is still fighting this, because every document is legitimate.
“Everything can be verified by the government. There may have been a technical mistake when handing the documents in, but it’s not forgery,” he said.
He noted that FAM was still waiting for Fifa’s decision on its appeal, and acknowledged that the sanctions may not be fully reversed.
Fifa had fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million) and suspended the seven players for 12 months after finding that documents submitted to confirm their eligibility contained false information.
The world football body is expected to decide on FAM’s appeal by Oct 30. - FMT

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