KUALA LUMPUR – The Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) ongoing governance reform programme will require stronger investment in high-quality professional staff, with finance and legal departments identified as the two biggest risk areas in football administration, according to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
AFC secretary-general Datuk Seri Windsor Paul John said structural reforms alone would not be sufficient unless FAM strengthens its human capital and revenue base to support long-term implementation.
Speaking in Scoop’s Sport Check episode, Windsor said modernising a football organisation required both system changes and financial capacity to execute them effectively.
“You can have reforms on paper, but you also need quality staff to implement them. It is not just about systems, it is also about people,” he said.
He added that upgrading technical and administrative capacity would inevitably require additional financial resources, but stressed that such investment was unavoidable if FAM wanted to meet international governance standards.
“You want quality staff. It costs money. If you want to upgrade yourself, you need to invest in the right people,” he said.
Windsor said one of the most critical findings from the AFC-led governance review was that finance and legal functions consistently represent the highest-risk areas in football organisations.
“When you talk about risk factors in any football organisation, finance is always at the top. That is where things can collapse if not managed properly,” he said.
“If there is no money coming in, how do you carry out football activities? That is always the highest risk area.”
He added that legal governance was equally important as it ensures compliance with statutes, regulations and disciplinary frameworks.
“Legal is equally important because they are the guardians of your rules, your statutes, your regulations and your policies,” he said.
The AFC-led audit of FAM, presented during the association’s extraordinary congress, outlined structural weaknesses across financial management, governance systems, administrative processes and organisational capacity, and recommended broad reforms to modernise operations.
Among the key proposals were improved financial oversight, stronger compliance mechanisms, enhanced legal governance structures, and investment in professional expertise to support implementation.
Windsor said the success of the reform agenda would depend not only on structural changes but also on whether FAM is willing to strengthen its revenue base and operational capacity.
“If you want to modernise, you must be prepared to invest. Otherwise, reforms will remain just ideas on paper,” he said.
His remarks echoed previous comments by former FAM president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin, who told Scoop that implementing AFC and FIFA-driven governance reforms would require a stronger financial foundation to support structural improvements.
Hamidin had previously acknowledged that while FAM had initiated several internal changes, the cost of upgrading governance systems, strengthening departments and professionalising operations would require sustainable revenue streams.
The AFC review itself was initiated after FAM sought assistance from both AFC and FIFA following concerns arising from the heritage player controversy, which triggered sanctions and intensified scrutiny of the association’s governance framework.
Reforming FAM will require not only new systems and policies, but also the financial and human resources necessary to sustain them, Windsor said.
“It is not just about changing structures. It is about building the capacity to run those structures properly,” he said. – June 15, 2026