Is it from Glory to Gutter?

 

There were seven players involved in the national football scandal. They were not “heritage” nor naturalised players. Neither of their grandparents were born in Malaysia. They have been found guilty. 

Fifa sanctioned the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the seven players on Sept 26 last year. From the moment the scandal broke, FAM officials chose clouding over accountability. They attempted to cloak the fact that fraudulent documents - including birth certificates - were used to clear these seven players to don the Harimau Malaya jersey in the Asian Cup qualifiers. Through the National Registration Department (NRD) and Home Minister, whose ministry oversees it, the government’s role is already a matter of public record.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org 

When the scandal broke, a declaration dated Sept 19, 2025 made by NRD director-general Badrul Hisham Alias, and submitted to Fifa as a defence statement, stated that the players provided the required documents with the names and identification details of their grandparents. 

Three bodies - the Fifa Disciplinary Committee, Fifa Appeals Committee, and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) have called NRD’s bluff or mistake - there is no such lineage. So, what has NRD got to say? 

Now, on top of legal fees, FAM must swallow its pride and send 350,000 Swiss Francs to Fifa - the fine for its open defiance. Malaysians need to know the full extent of this rot.

Malaysians deserve answers, not silence. We deserve the names, the documents, and the accountability that have been so artfully dodged. This saga has never really been about football. It is about a culture of impunity. If our leaders cannot answer for how public funds were used to forge public documents, then they are not just silent partners in this scandal - but complicit in the cover-up. 

The fiasco affects football, our relationships with FIFA, AFC and the nations we play football with. The “Magnificent Seven” was the theme song for the movie by the same name. In the movie, the seven were “heroes”, here they are all made to look like villains. And the moral of the story is our citizenship could be processed in weeks if you can play football but decades if you can’t. 

To clean this up, we need a new FAM structure with all Malaysians in it and a respectable President, not a politician or any from the royalty. We need programmes from schools graduating into FAM’s “wings”. We need exposure of players in overseas football leagues. We need a blueprint on the “Road to World Cup” (could be a 10-year plan). And many more, but most of all integrity in our words and actions. 

Reference:

Comment: From glory to gutter: Football’s bitter truth deserves to be told, R Nadeswaran, Malaysiakini, 9 March 2026