Naturalized player has roots in 'great-grandfather', President of Malaysian Football Federation is about to lose his position

FAM's top brass is in unprecedented turmoil.

The current FAM President, Mr. Joehari Ayub, was only elected in February this year for a term from 2025 - 2029. After an uncontested election, Mr. Joehari Ayub became the first person from Sabah to lead Malaysian football.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

The early period of Joehari Ayub's tenure was marked by a massive naturalization campaign, including many controversial players whose origins were unclear. This created a fierce debate in football in this country, and in many places in Southeast Asia. However, thanks to this naturalization campaign, the Malaysian team became noticeably stronger and had a resounding victory over the Vietnamese team with a score of 4-0 in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10.

So far, the controversy over Malaysia's naturalized players has temporarily subsided, after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA ( the world ), admitted that FAM followed the law and there have been no complaints from related parties.

This issue suddenly flared up again recently, when naturalized player Facundo Garces (of Argentine origin) was "in trouble" with the revelation that he has Malaysian roots through his "great-grandfather". He then quickly issued a correction, claiming that it was a translation error, and affirmed that his paternal grandparents have Malaysian roots. In the case of Facundo Garces having roots through his "great-grandfather" who is the fourth generation, it would not be in accordance with FIFA regulations.

FAM President Joehari Ayub is under great pressure to clarify the records of Malaysian naturalized players after the above incident.

In addition, according to the New Straits Times , the chairmanship of the Malaysian football body has recently been vacant. "According to many sources, FAM Vice President Yusof Mahadi is ready to take over the position of interim chairman if there is a change in leadership at the top of this organization. It is known that this position (chairmanship) may now be vacant.

Several other FAM officials, including Secretary-General Noor Azman Rahman, also remained silent on the matter, but they did not deny the speculations, the New Straits Times reported.