KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has clarified that its suspended secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman was present at an event attended by the International Federation of Association Football's (Fifa) president Gianni Infantino recently in his own personal capacity.
Its acting president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi said the photos published by a news portal were taken outside of official FAM or Fifa events or ceremonies.
"FAM takes note of the report published by the portal today regarding the publication of photos showing Noor Azman with Gianni Infantino.
"The photos were taken outside of official FAM or Fifa events or ceremonies, and Datuk Noor Azman's presence was in his personal capacity, and not on official business of FAM,” he said in a statement today.
Yusoff added that since being suspended from his duty on October 17, Azman has not been involved in any official FAM activities, meetings, or programmes.
As such, he hopes this explanation will suffice to clarify any confusion that may have arisen following the report on the news portal.
On October 17, FAM deputy president Datuk Sivasundaram Sithamparam Pillai announced that Azman had been suspended with immediate effect following the disciplinary decision related to the documentation issue involving the eligibility of seven national heritage players.
Last month, FAM and seven heritage players — Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel — were penalised by Fifa's Disciplinary Committee after being found guilty of violating Article 22 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code (FDC) for document falsification.
In its previous statement, the world body said FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the players' eligibility, allowing them to compete in the third-round match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.
As a result, FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (around RM1.8 million), while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (around RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the date of notification of the decision.
The association explained that it had identified a technical error in the submission process involving the seven players’ documents, caused by an administrative staff member.
It also did not rule out taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if the appeal at the Fifa level fails.
