KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has confirmed that it has terminated the effort to naturalise Congolese player Marcel Kasongo Kalonda after finding one of the important documents submitted by the player has invalid information.
In a statement today, FAM said the decision was made after reviewing and confirming relevant documents through the National Registration Department (NRD), the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) and representatives of the Congolese consulate in Malaysia.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam said FAM was strict in the process of verifying the status of players and did not treat lightly the requirements and procedures which must be followed before a line of technical experts evaluated the performance of a player.
“FAM has received a letter of response from the NRD informing that, after conducting a review and investigation, one of the documents was found to contain invalid information.
“After contacting Kalonda to inform him on the results of NRD’s review and investigation, FAM hereby decides to close the process and the next steps altogether,” he said.
Kalonda, who played in the defensive position, was, prior to this, said to have Malaysian blood before several local media reports quoted the 22-year-old as claiming that his father and grandfather were from Sabah.
In the meantime, the FAM warned any individual not to arbitrarily commit an offence such as falsifying Malaysian citizenship documents. — Bernama
