KUALA LUMPUR
\nMalaysia\u2019s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there would be no cover-up in domestic investigations into alleged document forgery that led to FIFA suspending seven naturalised players of the national football team, the state news agency reported on Friday.
\nThe global soccer body said this week it would launch a formal probe into the Football Association of Malaysia\u2019s internal operations and notify authorities in five countries of potential criminal proceedings, after dismissing the association\u2019s appeal against the players\u2019 suspension.
\nThe Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. FAM last month suspended its secretary-general and said it would form an independent committee to investigate. It also said this week it planned to bring the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Anwar vowed transparency in the probe, but stressed that FAM should be allowed to defend itself and that the government would not act based on FIFA\u2019s findings alone.
\n\u201cGo ahead and investigate. That has been the instruction. But then again, the process has to go on,\u201d Anwar was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama.PLAYERS BANNED FOR 12 MONTHS The players were given a 12-month ban in September after FIFA found that false documentation had been used so they could play in an Asian Cup qualifier for Malaysia against Vietnam.
\nThe findings sparked outrage in Malaysia, with fans and some lawmakers calling for action to be taken against officials at FAM and government agencies involved in issuing citizenship documents. Malaysia\u2019s Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh told parliament on Thursday the ministry had no power to sack FAM officials, as any government interference in national football bodies risked triggering a FIFA suspension\u2013a move that would affect not only the senior national team, but the entirety of Malaysian football, including its youth and women\u2019s squads.
\n\u201cI understand the public anger, but I have to abide by the current process and the findings made by FIFA so far involving the seven players,\u201d Yeoh said.
\nThe ministry has, however, proposed not to give additional funding to FAM pending the outcome of the committee\u2019s investigation, which would be led by a top former Malaysian judge, she said. CrowdStrike founder and chief executive George Kurtz has bought into the Mercedes Formula One team.
\nA report by FIFA\u2019s appeals committee showed how Facundo Garces, Gabriel Arrocha, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel\u2013all born outside Malaysia\u2013were granted Malaysian nationality in a process supervised by FAM. While the players said their grandparents were born in Malaysia, FIFA said it was able to obtain birth certificates that had significant discrepancies with those submitted by FAM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia\u2019s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there would be no cover-up in domestic investigations into alleged document forgery that led to FIFA suspending seven naturalised players of the national football team, the state news agency reported on Friday. The global soccer body said this week it would launch a formal probe into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-515992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n