KUALA LUMPUR – Johor Regent Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has urged all parties to gather credible evidence concerning the alleged document fraud involving heritage players and submit it to the authorities for further investigation.
On social media, Tunku Ismail, also widely known as TMJ, emphasised the importance of basing actions on legal grounds, with solid facts and evidence, rather than relying on mere theories. He stressed that effective action is based on facts, not speculation.
“This is why it’s crucial to gather all the evidence we have and submit it to the relevant government agencies for investigation and legal action,” he said in a response on social media platform X.
“It’s not just about theory. We need to collect all the available evidence together for the sake of our national football,” he added.
Tunku Ismail’s statement came in response to a post by the Youth Football Malaysia account, which voiced concerns over the current state of Malaysia’s football industry.
The account highlighted several chronic issues plaguing the sport, noting that these issues are harder to resolve than basic developmental concerns.
The post from Youth Football Malaysia agreed that areas such as pitch conditions, training centres, competitions, and academies are being improved and are on the path to resolution. However, it pointed out that more complex problems, such as document fraud, match-fixing, league management issues, and contract falsifications, remain difficult to address.
Previously, FIFA sanctioned seven Malaysian heritage players for violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) in relation to document forgery.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) appealed the decision, but FIFA rejected the appeal. The case has since been referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the outcome is awaited after recent hearings.
Yesterday, Tunku Ismail, who also owns Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), criticised pundits who focus solely on refereeing standards and the controversy surrounding heritage players. He argued that there are more pressing issues affecting Malaysian football.
In a social media post, he defended JDT’s track record and questioned the narrative that the sport is in decline. “Presidents come and go, coaches come and go, players come and go, and opponents come and go. But JDT’s consistency cannot be denied,” he said.
Tunku Ismail took aim at “so-called experts” who claim the sport is in crisis due to refereeing quality and the heritage player issue. He questioned why no one was addressing deeper problems within the sport, such as the previous administration’s failure to distribute television rights revenue to teams.
He also pointed out the lack of competitive tournaments for youth development, highlighting long-standing structural issues, including unpaid wages and poor fund management.
“Why are we still playing on ‘cow grass’? Why are stadiums still dilapidated and floodlights still dim and yellow? Why haven’t teams had proper training centres for decades?” he asked.
Tunku Ismail further suggested that critics were diverting attention from internal problems within their own clubs. He claimed that many of the issues pointed out by the critics were present in the teams they support.
“What is the easiest way to mislead fans? Point fingers at other issues and other people to cover up your own weaknesses and failures,” he said.
He described the ongoing discourse as “pure hypocrisy”, used to conceal the mismanagement within clubs that have existed for years. – March 1, 2026