KUALA LUMPUR: Tunku Ismail Ibrahim has dropped a bombshell, saying there were those within the FA of Malaysia (FAM) who had sought his assistance to secure projects and not be investigated by the nation’s anti-graft body.
The Regent of Johor and owner of football club Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) posted on X, saying: “Some people within FAM have been dissatisfied with me for a long time because they can’t make money off me. Some came asking for help to secure projects; others came asking me to intervene so they wouldn’t be investigated by the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission), and so on.”
“Many were frustrated when the government provided funding directly to the national team. They were unhappy because they were left out of the loop.”
“Consequently, they’ve been quietly meeting with the Ultras Malaya, certain media members, and social media influencers to launch a sabotage campaign using various narratives.”
On Jan 12, 2025, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would increase its allocation for football development to RM30 million, doubling the initial RM15 million set aside in the 2025 budget.
Tunku Ismail pointed out that the case involving FAM and Fifa was a matter of forgery, not citizenship eligibility.
“It is about forgery and document submission. Who was responsible for the wrong submission? The agent and who else within FAM?
“Why wasn’t legitimate documentation from the NRD (National Registration Department) submitted? Because they wanted to protect ‘insiders’, the players are being blamed.”
He added that during the arguments in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing, Fifa could not answer when asked for evidence that the players were involved or complicit.
“Why is this case being treated differently from previous CAS cases – like the one where a female player pleaded guilty to forgery and was only banned for 10 national matches while still being allowed to play for her club?”
While Tunku Ismail did not mention the name of the woman footballer, it is believed that he was referring to Camila Maria do Carmo Nobre de Oliveira of Equatorial Guinea, who was banned by Fifa in 2016 for using two passports with different dates of birth.
“The insiders should be held accountable. They shouldn’t wash their hands of it and use the supporters and the media to turn me into a scapegoat,” Tunku Ismail added.
‘Just focus on your job, don’t entertain the politics’
In September 2025, Fifa slapped FAM and seven players – Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano – with sanctions following the submission of doctored documents ahead of the Asian Cup qualifiers.
At the first press conference following the saga, national team chief executive officer Rob Friend referred to “three entities”: the national body, the national team, and TMJ (Tunku Ismail) – before later clarifying that there was only one body, FAM.
Tunku Ismail on X highlighted the apparent animosity between FAM staff and those within the national team set-up.
“The first Harimau Malaya training session was at the Seri Gelam pitch (in Johor Bahru). We were informed that the national team media had wanted to borrow a camera from JDT media. When I found out, I asked the national team media, ‘Where’s the camera?’ The answer I got was that FAM media wouldn’t release it. I was shocked.
“When I investigated, I received information that (FAM media officer) Wan Fakrul (Wan Bakar) refused to release it because he was dissatisfied about not being able to travel or be involved with the national team’s new structure; the national team also has a new media team assigned to cover them. It’s things like this.
“This includes training sessions where far too many (FAM) exco members want to be involved and end up interfering with the players. This complaint was also made by Peter Cklamovski, the national head coach. Only a week in, he said to me: ‘I can feel some of these people don’t want us here.’
“I advised him, ‘Just focus on your job, Peter. Don’t entertain the politics.’ After Peter made several requests, the media outlets close to certain ‘insiders’ began to attack – including Harimau Malaya (fan accounts/groups) who are close to several exco members.”
‘Make full use of this time and opportunity’
In another X posting, Tunku Ismail called upon those unhappy with him to end his influence in the local and international football industry.
“I have been labelled by the majority of supporters of the opposing teams as the individual fully responsible for the issue of the seven players who were suspended. I want to tell all of you: Do not let this opportunity slip away. Mobilise your ‘machinery’ on social media, mainstream media, governing bodies, legal avenues, and so on.
“I hope you do even better. Make full use of this time and opportunity.
“You must finish me off, once and for all in football. Just talking or writing alone is not going to change anything. Please stand united and put in more effort.”
On March 5, CAS said that the infraction of falsifying eligibility documents had been established and that the 12-month ban imposed by Fifa last September on the seven players from playing matches was a reasonable and proportionate sanction, “given their complicit responsibility in this fraud.” CAS also said that the ban, however, should only apply to matches and not to all football-related activities.
The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Disciplinary and Ethics Committee will now decide on the Malaysian matches in the Asian Cup qualifiers – namely the clash against Nepal and Vietnam that the Harimau Malaya team won 2-0 and 4-0 respectively.
