KUALA LUMPUR – Former Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin has defended the national body’s governance record, saying administrative shortcomings are not unique to Malaysia and can also be found in countries that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup.
Speaking to Scoop when met at the Hilton Petaling Jaya yesterday, Hamidin said the recent Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA-led quality audit should not be viewed as evidence of wrongdoing within FAM, but rather as an effort to raise governance standards.
“There are countries that have qualified for the World Cup, but their administration may not be good. They may have many governance problems. But that is not what we want,” he said.
“What we want is for our national team to be strong, our development programmes to be strong and our administration to be strong at the same time.
“Just because a country qualifies for the World Cup does not mean its governance is perfect. Likewise, if AFC identifies areas for improvement in FAM, it does not mean we have failed or that we were doing everything wrong.”
Hamidin said public perception of the audit had been distorted, with many wrongly interpreting its findings as proof that FAM had breached regulations or mismanaged the organisation.
He stressed that the audit was initiated by FAM itself following the resignation of its executive committee, with AFC and FIFA tasked with identifying areas where the national body could improve.
“We requested AFC and FIFA to conduct this exercise because we wanted to become better. We wanted them to tell us honestly where improvements could be made.
“Most of the recommendations are about raising standards and modernising governance structures. They are not saying that FAM violated its statutes or acted outside its constitution.”
According to Hamidin, FAM had operated in accordance with its constitution throughout his tenure and under previous administrations, but football governance standards have evolved.
“What AFC and FIFA are recommending today may be different from what was considered best practice years ago. That does not mean what was done previously was wrong. It simply means there are now newer and better ways of doing things.”
Among the recommendations highlighted during the audit were reforms to financial governance and decision-making structures, as well as greater involvement of clubs in FAM’s administration.
Hamidin said AFC had pointed out that Malaysia and Sri Lanka were among the few member associations without direct club representation in their governance systems.
“We have now accepted that clubs should have a role in governance.
“If we want to move forward, clubs, women’s football representatives and other stakeholders need to have a voice in the system.”
He added that many of the proposed reforms would require significant investment, expertise and time to implement, with AFC and FIFA expected to monitor progress over the next two years.
“The recommendations involve restructuring, hiring professionals and strengthening various departments. That requires money and expertise.
“If we want high-quality directors in areas such as marketing, legal affairs, media and human resources, we need people with the right qualifications and experience.”
The FAM honorary president also sought to clear up confusion surrounding the governing body’s finances, saying criticism arising from the audit centred on the failure to formally table annual budgets at congress between 2023 and 2025, rather than issues involving audited accounts.
“The accounts and the budget are two completely different things.
“If there were problems with the accounts, FAM would not be allowed to operate. Our accounts have been audited by FIFA, AFC and independent auditors and submitted every year.
“The issue was that the budgets, although approved internally by the finance committee and executive committee, were not formally tabled at congress. That was the oversight.”
Hamidin said the audit should ultimately be viewed as a roadmap for reform rather than an indictment of FAM.
“We don’t want to choose between having a strong national team and strong administration.
“We want good governance, good development programmes and a successful national team.
“That is what AFC and FIFA are encouraging us to build, and that is the direction FAM should continue moving towards.” – June 8, 2026