PETALING JAYA: The statute changes tabled at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Congress may have sailed through, but not without turbulence.
Selangor Football Association deputy president Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar has expressed his concern over a statute that grants the Malaysian Football League (MFL) president an automatic pathway to the FAM vice-presidency - a provision he described as fundamentally incompatible with good governance.
“I strongly disagree that the MFL president should get an automatic green lane to become a vice-president of FAM. At most, that position should only sit at the ordinary exco level,” said Shahril.
His argument rests on the structural relationship between the two bodies.
Under Article 79, the FAM own the league but outsource their operations to the MFL, making them a separate entity subject to FAM’s oversight.
Shahril argued that allowing the head of that entity to automatically assume a senior FAM leadership role would create an obvious conflict of interest.
“How can the head of an entity you are supposed to oversee be handed an automatic VP spot? My firm stance is that all three VP positions must be openly contested.”
He also proposed a strict three-term, 12-year limit applied retrospectively, to prevent long-serving officials from entrenching themselves further.
“If we are genuinely talking about the spirit of reform and inclusiveness, we cannot have individuals who have already served 20 years staying on to contest for another 12. We need new ideas and fresh faces.”
What frustrated him more, he admitted, was not the resistance in principle but the silence in the room.
Despite a majority of FA representatives privately agreeing that these issues needed to be raised, few found the courage to say so publicly.
“When we discussed this previously, over 50% agreed we needed to highlight these issues. But when you get to the meeting room, nobody speaks up. Instead, they wait until afterwards to whisper, ‘Datuk Seri, Datuk Seri.’”
He was dismissive of that kind of backroom support.
“You must stand up for what you believe in. If you want to stop these systemic issues, you have to vote for the right people.”
Shahril warned that whoever emerges from the FAM elections should brace for a steep climb.
“It is an organisation that require full structural transformation. You need a remarkably strong, decisive leader with strict accountability.”
Meanwhile, Sarawak FA president Datuk Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman took a more conciliatory view, expressing confidence that AFC-mandated reforms would catalyse Malaysian football’s growth, citing Japan’s standards as the benchmark to aspire to.
“The MFL are one of the biggest stakeholders in Malaysian football. They should have a say and a chair at the table. But according to the AFC, we must follow the highest standards. We have to follow.”
