KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) could face severe consequences including the possibility of being suspended by FIFA if there was interference from the government, warned a former football administrator.
Former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Secretary-General, Datuk Peter Velappan said under Articles 13 and 17 of the FIFA Statute, its clearly stated that the government has no right to meddle in national football associations.
"If they (government) continue to interfere, I think FAM will not exist anymore and the national team can not take part in the World Cup Qualifying matches in the future," he told Bernama here, today.
Velappan told this when asked to comment on Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's statement, demanding the FAM to give a solid statement within 14 days of an ugly incident that took place at the Shah Alam Stadium during the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying match between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia which was called off by the referee due to crowd trouble.
Velappan who has served as the Assistant Secretary-General of FAM from 1963 until 1980, therefore urged all football stakeholders to sit together and find ways to remedy the 'demise' of Malaysian football which has declined over the past decade.
"Stop pointing fingers at each other. Let's sit together and find a solution to help our ailing Malaysian football," he added.
FAM deputy president Datuk Seri Afandi Hamzah when contacted by Bernama said the FAM executive committee would meet tomorrow to discuss the incident at the Shah Alam Stadium, that rocked the entire nation.
"I am not aware of the comment made by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin but it will be discussed tomorrow," said Afandi.
On May 30, FIFA had suspended Indonesia after their government meddled in the country's domestic league which saw Indonesia not competing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign which started on June 11.
On Tuesday, match referee Liu Kwok Man from Hong Kong decided to stop the match in the 88th minute due to security reasons and safety of the players when fans started hurling smoke bombs, flares and rocket parachute flares onto the pitch.
Saudi Arabia were leading 2-1 when the incident happened. — Bernama
