September 8: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) faces fresh questions about its governance just days before an election meant to draw a line in one of the most turbulent periods in the federation’s history.
The issue concerns Prof Datuk Dr Abdullah Mohamad Said, chairman of the electoral committee overseeing the September 17 poll.
According to article 4.5 of the FAM’s 2026 Electoral Code, approved by Congress in June, the president and vice president of the committee “must be qualified to practice law.”
Questions have now been raised as to whether Abdullah meets that requirement. His official profile from Universiti Teknologi MARA includes a PhD in Urbanism and Spatial Planning, a Master’s in Urbanism and a degree in Environmental Sciences, but does not include a law degree. This alone does not prove that he is ineligible, but the FAM has yet to provide clarification after being approached by the Malaysian media.
Abdullah is no newcomer to the role. He has chaired the FAM election committee since 2020, oversaw last year’s election and recently signed confirmation letters for candidates in this month’s poll.
The election is being held as the entire FAM executive committee resigned in January, just 11 months into their tenure, following the fallout from the eligibility scandal involving seven foreign-born Malaysian internationals.
FIFA found that forged documents had been used to establish the players’ Malaysian ancestry and fined FAM 350,000 francs. The Court of Arbitration for Sport subsequently upheld the finding that eligibility documents had been falsified, while limiting the players’ 12-month suspensions to matches.
The AFC subsequently undertook a wider review of FAM and identified weaknesses in its governance and administration. This led directly to the June Congress, where FAM passed 94 proposed changes covering its bylaws, elections and internal controls.
The first major election under this revised framework will see Football League Malaysia president Ab Ghani Hassan face Selangor FA vice-president Shahril Mokhtar for the presidency. Abdullah has said that all nominations were checked against FAM’s bylaws and electoral procedures.
For an association trying to regain confidence in how it is run, the eligibility of the man responsible for overseeing these elections is no small detail.
The FAM now has nine days before the vote to clarify its position. the clock is ticking
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)