KUALA LUMPUR – Veteran journalist Datuk Ahirudin Attan, better known as Rocky Bru, has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the falsified documents scandal that led to FIFA sanctioning the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven naturalised players.
Speaking on Scoop’s Trick Lama podcast, Rocky said Malaysia should not wait to be punished further by FIFA and ought instead to “ban itself out of shame”.
“Out of shame, we should not wait to be banned. We should just disqualify ourselves and conduct a proper inquiry — a Royal Commission of Inquiry — into this,” he said.
He added that the RCI must be led by an “independent and credible” panel to determine what went wrong and how to restore trust in Malaysian football.
“We need to find out what happened, who was responsible, and where we go from here. There’s no shortcut to success — let’s go back to building local talent,” said Rocky.
Rocky revealed the idea for an RCI came after a recent encounter with a Sultanah, who had expressed her dismay over the scandal and quipped that if the seven players could be naturalised, “she too would like to be naturalised — but in another state.”
The conversation, joined by Scoop CEO Datuk Zainul Arifin Mohammed Isa and Editor-in-Chief Terence Fernandez, highlighted growing unease even among members of royalty over how the matter was handled.
“Not all in the palace agree with what’s happening,” Rocky said, referring to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s earlier remarks alluding to royalty involvement.
Zainul noted that the issue had also become a matter of international embarrassment.
“When The Guardian features Malaysia’s football scandal as one of its top sports stories, it tells you how far this has travelled — for all the wrong reasons,” said Zainul.
Rocky’s comments came days after Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution admitted he had exercised his discretion to grant citizenship to the seven players involved, a move that has drawn criticism from legal experts and child rights advocates.
Terence pointed out that Saifuddin’s statement only deepened questions of fairness.
“The minister said he used his discretion for the players, but what about the thousands of stateless Malaysians who have been waiting for years? Why not apply that same discretion to all deserving cases?” he asked.
Rocky concluded by urging FAM to face the consequences head-on: “If we cheated the system, then own up. We can’t fix Malaysian football by forging papers — only by rebuilding trust.” — October 18, 2025