KUALA LUMPUR – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is aiming to complete a comprehensive governance audit of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as part of efforts to strengthen the national body’s governance and operational framework.
AFC secretary-general Datuk Seri Windsor Paul John said the audit, conducted in collaboration with FIFA, began in February and involves more than 20 specialists examining the association’s internal systems and processes.
The assessment is led by AFC deputy secretary-general Vahid Kardany and covers several key areas, including legal matters, branding, statutes, governance structures, human resources and the potential expansion of FAM’s membership.
Windsor described the exercise as a long-overdue diagnostic review.
“After 100 years of progress, every organisation needs a full diagnostic check. Even if a car starts every morning, at some point you still need to open the bonnet and inspect the engine,” he said during a press conference at Wisma FAM today.
He added that while past practices had been sufficient to keep the association running, modern football governance now demands much higher standards of transparency and accountability.
“Our priority is to put the house in order first before addressing other components such as the Malaysian Football League, FAM competitions, the Amateur Football League and the management of the national team,” he said.
According to Windsor, the AFC aims to complete the audit report in time for FAM to convene an extraordinary congress to approve a revised set of statutes before the World Cup.
He said the association is expected to hold its elective congress after the global tournament, likely between August and September, allowing the restructured governance framework to take effect.
FAM currently has no executive committee (Exco) members after all of them resigned en masse on Jan 28 following a major restructuring move aimed at enabling reforms to the association’s governance structure. – March 16, 2026