An Independent Investigation Committee (ICC) appointed by the FA of Malaysia (FAM), in their report, said they could not conclusively determine who falsified the impugned documents submitted for seven heritage players due to the fact that the certifying Notary Public did not cooperate and the seven players' agents could not be located.
The ICC was set up in October 2025 by FAM to investigate the documentation issue involving seven heritage players of Harimau Malaya who were suspended for 12 months by FIFA.
What was the Exco of FAM thinking when they agreed to set up the ICC?
That the ICC will come up with a report that will `exonerate’ the Exco of FAM from any responsibility for the fraud and falsification set out in FIFA’s 63 pages report?
Unlike FIFA’s 63 pages report that was dated 5 Nov 2025 where in paragraph 304, the Disciplinary Committee of FIFA state that since there is forgery, which constitutes a criminal offense in Malaysia, the Committee directs the Secretariat to adopt the necessary steps to notify the competent criminal authorities in Malaysia for appropriate criminal investigations and proceedings to be taken against FAM and those involved.
ICC, however, in their report, apparently suggested for FAM to lodge a police report so as to enable the authorities to conduct a proper investigation in order to establish the origin of the suspected forged documents, and identify those responsible.
How do they expect FAM to lodge a report with the police when even the ICC themselves claimed in their own report that there are no identifiable party or parties in the whole episode?
That the fraudulent documents `ghosted in' and appeared suddenly in the application to FIFA?
That someone `unknown' submitted those documents and it is not from FAM and thus necessitate the police to investigate who that someone or group that fraudulently submitted those documents and claimed it as an official document from FAM?
And a question to the ICC.
Was there any interviews conducted with the Ministry of Home Affairs who oversees Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) and the agency that affirmed and issued those citizenship confirmation for the 7 heritage players?
The police are no `fortune tellers’.
If the ICC can’t identify and pinpoint the individuals responsible, do they expect the police to be able to do so just because they have both statutory and investigative powers?
It will be interesting to see the investigation that will be undertaken by the police upon them receiving a notice from the secretariat of FIFA on the forgery of official documents by FAM.
Would the police face the same hurdles as by the ICC?
According to the Penal Code, forgery is a serious crime defined and punished under various sections 463, 464, 465, 467 and 468 where it states that whoever commits forgery, intending that the document forged shall be used for the purpose of cheating, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Probably this is the reason why the Exco of FAM `played brain dead’ in this whole episode.
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