PETALING JAYA: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) secretary-general Datuk Seri Windsor Paul believes the proposed governance reforms for the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) can help dismantle the long-standing “culture of conformity” identified within the organisation.
The issue was first highlighted by AFC deputy secretary-general Vahid Kardany during the AFC’s quality audit assessment of FAM earlier this year, where he described an organisational culture that relied too heavily on following past practices instead of encouraging initiative and fresh ideas.
”If I can say just one word, it is culture. The organisational culture needs to change,” Kardany had said during the audit review in March.
The AFC audit team reviewed nearly 100 documents across several departments, including finance, human resources, legal and marketing, while also conducting interviews with FAM staff.
Despite the concerns, Kardany praised FAM employees for being transparent, open and willing to improve.
Speaking on the proposed constitutional reforms that will be tabled at FAM’s Extraordinary Congress on Thursday, Windsor expressed confidence that a more inclusive structure would reduce conformity and encourage accountability within the organisation.
“I think we’re confident because now we will have more members involved. You may be able to control 18 members, but you cannot control more than 40 members, which involves the clubs as well, so there is that democracy happening,” said Windsor.
“Everybody will have a voice and a vote. Questions will be asked – how money is spent, how decisions are made. We believe this system has worked in other places and we hope it will help FAM as well.”
