KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian lawmaker has urged the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to make public an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) audit into the national governing body.
Ramkarpal Singh, the Bukit Gelugor MP, described the revelations made by the AFC during FAM’s extraordinary congress on June 4 as “shocking”, adding that they must be fully disclosed in the public interest.
He said the findings of the AFC audit were “damning” and included:
- Problems across every department without exception, with governance structures existing only on paper rather than being enforced in practice.
- Key roles built around specific individuals rather than durable systems, leaving no succession plans for when those individuals depart.
- A “culture of fear” at every level of the organisation, preventing staff from speaking out.
- Seventy per cent of FAM’s income being spent on national team expenses and staff salaries, leaving just 30 per cent for development projects.
“The findings above give rise to very serious concerns as to whether football in this country is headed in the right direction, and the public has every right to know the extent of the rot in FAM so far,” said Ramkarpal, who is also DAP’s national legal bureau chairman.
“The findings further suggest a culture of subservience and fear, and an unwillingness to think out of the box for the betterment of football in Malaysia in the long term. Moreover, a failure to make those full findings public will likely give rise to an adverse inference against FAM and invite speculation that it is afraid of revealing more damning findings that may be contained in the report.
“I will be raising this issue in Parliament in its upcoming session commencing on June 22, and an effective debate on the matter can only be had with the benefit of the full audit report of the AFC.”
Ramkarpal added that public disclosure was essential for transparency and accountability, stating that “anything less would reflect a serious dereliction of duty on its part.”
During the extraordinary congress, the AFC revealed that FAM had not presented its budget to congress “since at least 2016”, which it stated was a direct breach of its statutes (main image).
AFC deputy general secretary Vahid Kardany, who led the audit, said most of the problems were the result of legacy issues.
“They carried on doing what was okay in the past. That resulted in repeated failures across the association’s entire organisational structure,” Kardany said.
“We have also recommended that, in future, the general secretary must sit for an eligibility test before being appointed.”
The AFC added that the national body’s dysfunction was systemic, after scoring the various departments within Wisma FAM.
However, FAM has dismissed allegations that it failed to present audited financial reports since 2016, insisting its accounts have been tabled annually.
In a statement yesterday, FAM said audited financial statements had been presented at every annual congress, including the accounts for the year ending Dec 31, 2025, which were tabled at the June 4 congress.
The governing body stated that its accounts are reviewed by its finance and management committee, approved by the executive committee, audited by local auditors, Fifa, and the AFC, and subsequently submitted to the Sports Commissioner’s Office.
However, FAM admitted there had been an “oversight” in presenting annual budgets for 2023, 2024, and 2025. This followed an amendment to its statutes in 2023 to align with Fifa’s recommendation that budgets must be tabled at official congresses.
