KUALA LUMPUR: There is one question that will nag the newly elected office bearers of the FA of Malaysia – what if someone files a formal complaint over the eligibility of the Electoral Committee that oversaw this morning’s extraordinary congress elections?
The Electoral Committee should have stepped down earlier and allowed the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) or Fifa to oversee the polls, ensuring they proceeded without any doubts.
Voters were warned earlier today by AFC general secretary Datuk Seri Windsor Paul that the Electoral Committee chairman was legally unqualified for the post. The FAM Electoral Code requires the chairperson and deputy chairperson to be qualified to practise law.
“We all know that the chairman and deputy chairman do not possess the qualifications as stated in the FAM statutes. This is solely the decision of the congress, and not Fifa or AFC,” Windsor said ahead of the polls at Hilton Petaling Jaya.
“You have to make this decision today, bearing in mind that anyone can challenge this decision. Even though the Congress unanimously agrees to proceed, anyone can still take this case to the highest level, including an appeal to CAS, because it is a violation of eligibility.”
Perhaps delegates felt reassured about proceeding after Selangor FA deputy president Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar seconded Perak FA representative Datuk Azhar Jamaluddin’s motion to proceed with the elections.
Shahril, who was contesting the presidency, received five votes against eventual winner Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan’s 20.
FAM had been without an executive committee (exco) since the previous line-up resigned en bloc in January following the doctored documentation scandal involving seven footballers.
Shahril’s only caveat in supporting the motion was that “such matters will not happen again” in the future.
However, that alone will not prevent him or anyone else from pursuing the matter at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This could include clubs barred from voting because of criteria set by the committee whose eligibility is now in question.
The other consolation is that taking the matter to CAS would be costly – something the average Malaysian team might hesitate to pursue amid financial uncertainty, with teams struggling to pay players’ and coaches’ wages every season.
Perhaps there is already a consensus within FAM to move forward quickly and avoid further administrative and governance issues that could prolong uncertainty at Wisma FAM and across the domestic football ecosystem.
But as Paul rightly said, voters took a “gamble”. Hopefully, the decision will not haunt the office bearers or create further obstacles as the new leadership finds its footing and works to regain stakeholders’ trust.
