Malaysia FA approves reforms after AFC criticism

KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 : The Football Association of Malaysia on Wednesday approved a sweeping overhaul to its regulatory structure, shortly after the regional governing body, the Asian Football Confederation, said it had found widespread weaknesses in the association's governance and operations.

The AFC in January said it would conduct a review into FAM after the association was accused by world soccer body FIFA of using doctored documentation to field seven naturalised players in an Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam last year. FAM has denied wrongdoing and said it was investigating a technical error.

• In March, the AFC overturned Malaysia's qualifying wins over Nepal and Vietnam, effectively ending the country's chances of advancing in the tournament.

• In an audit report released on Wednesday, the AFC said FAM scored less than two out of five in most major areas reviewed including governance, legal, finance and football development, and described the weaknesses as systemic throughout the organisation.

• The association had also been operating without getting its budget formally approved since 2016, despite it being a regulatory requirement, AFC Deputy General Secretary Vahid Kardany said while presenting the report at a FAM extraordinary congress meeting.

• "I think the grades... show that you are in a pre-intermediate level in terms of organisation," he told reporters after the meeting.

• Following the presentation, all 18 FAM affiliates - which included state football representatives - unanimously approved all 94 amendments to the association's statutes proposed by the AFC, including abolishing the deputy president's post and restructuring the association's executive committee.

• FAM declined to respond to questions on