PETALING JAYA: Rumours are swirling that Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin (pic) could throw his hat into the ring for the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) presidency when elections are held in September.
But the man himself is in no hurry to declare his intentions.
The current honorary president said he would adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach, expressing hope that other candidates would emerge to contest the position, signalling his own preference for a fresh face to lead Malaysian football into a new era.
“With this reform, this is the best time for FAM to change, a wholesale change to ensure better administration,” Hamidin said.
“But I will wait and see what happens before September.”
His carefully measured words, however, do little to silence questions about his tenure.
Should Hamidin choose to contest, he would face scrutiny over governance failings identified during his time at the helm, most notably, a series of damaging findings by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Among the most serious revelations made by AFC deputy secretary-general Vahid Kardany was that FAM’s annual budget had not been presented to congress since 2016, a statutory breach spanning nearly a decade.
The findings painted a troubling picture of an organisation where financial controls were weak, accountability was unclear, and institutional safeguards were largely absent.
The AFC audit further revealed that payment approvals of any amount were authorised by the secretary-general and treasurer alone, with no formal payment approval policy in place.
FAM also lacked a risk management framework, a whistleblower policy, and a child protection and safeguarding policy.
Critically, all financial knowledge was concentrated in a single staff member, with no succession plan or knowledge transfer framework in existence.
On the structural side, the strategic plan was treated as a project entirely separate from the budget, while budget variances regularly exceeded 50 per cent with no formal consequences.
Hamidin served as FAM president from 2018 to 2025, having previously held the secretary-general post from 2013 to 2018.
He was preceded as president by Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (2017–2018) and the Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah (2014–2017).
The secretary-general role, meanwhile, passed through Datuk Stuart Ramalingam (2018–2021), Mohd Saifuddin Bakar (2021–2022), and incumbent Datuk Noor Azman Rahman (2022–present).
When pressed on Kardany’s findings, Hamidin acknowledged the budget lapses but sought to provide context.
“If I am not mistaken, we tabled and endorsed the budget at congress, though not ten years ago. I believe it was around three to four years ago when we adopted the latest statute. Prior to that, the requirement was not in our statute, although FIFA and AFC had already required it,” he said.
He attributed the oversight to outdated statutes rather than deliberate non-compliance.
“The budget was discussed at finance committee and exco meetings. It simply was not brought to the annual congress,” he explained, adding that FAM would now ensure the budget is tabled at every AGM going forward.
“What we did previously was in line with our statute, we were not acting against it. But today, certain areas have been highlighted where parts of our statute were perhaps outdated,” Hamidin said. “With these reforms, this is the best time for FAM to completely transform their governance.”
