Sawt Falasteen - Anger as bid to ramp up Malaysia's football fortunes backfires

Malaysian football was thrown into fresh chaos Wednesday when the local governing body's entire executive body quit.

It was the latest twist in a saga over seven naturalised players who allegedly used forged documents to join the national team.

FIFA accused the Malaysian football association (FAM) of using doctored birth certificates to claim ancestral links to the Southeast Asian nation -- a prerequisite for national selection -- when none in fact existed.

World football's governing body suspended the players and slapped more than $450,000 in fines on the FAM.

The FAM and players appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has granted a stay on the 12-month bans until the case is reviewed in late February.

Malaysia is football-mad, but the country has never qualified for the World Cup and is ranked 121, one place above regional rivals Indonesia.

Long-suffering Malaysian fans had high hopes when football authorities launched the naturalisation drive in 2018, ahead of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Gambia-born Mohamadou Sumareh made his debut for the national side in 2018 and several other overseas-born players followed.

In all, 23 foreign footballers were granted citizenship by late 2025.

But Malaysia failed to qualify for 2022 and fared no better in trying to reach this year's World Cup in North America.

Throw in the scandal and many in the nation of 35 million people are baffled and angry.

"This is extremely embarrassing," Ramkarpal Singh, a prominent lawyer and MP, told parliament after Malaysian football made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

"When we see the development of football in this country dropping to this level, it's very sad.

"This matter has affected the reputation and the good name of the country," Singh added.

- Grassroots problems -

Critics and football pundits believe ending the dependency on foreign-born players and addressing issues from the bottom up is the way forward.

"Malaysian football wouldn't be in such a predicament if there were structured grassroots development involving all stakeholders," said Haresh Deol, an award-winning journalist.

"To move forward we must pay a whole lot of attention to the grassroots: getting the right coaches, playing enough matches and a proper infrastructure," he told AFP.

Critics say there are too few full-time football academies for homegrown talent.

Shazwan Wong, who coaches teenagers at Kepong football club -- an emerging club in the capital that competes in international tournaments -- says Malaysian players lag their regional rivals.

"Every year there will be new players coming up to represent the national team," he told AFP.

"The question is: will they be good enough to compete in Asia against the Koreans, the Japanese? Are they able to compete on a world level against the Brazilians or Argentinians?"

"We won't run out of players," Shazwan said.

"It's the quality."

- 'No outsiders needed' -

Ivan Yusoff says that naturalised players do not fully appreciate what it means to represent the country.

"To me, this (naturalisation) doesn't even make sense," said Yusoff, who coaches players around sprawling Sri Melaka, low-income flats a stone's throw from the city centre.

Football has left an imprint all over these densely populated housing estates, which have produced at least eight national players including legendary former international striker Safee Sali.

"Why do we need outsiders? We're the ones who want to make our country proud," said Yusoff.

On a week day afternoon at a youth tournament at Selangor FC -- one of the country's most successful clubs -- the forgery scandal is the last thing on the minds of the young footballers.

Gurneeshan Singh Josen, 12, hopes to one day play for Malaysia on the biggest stage.

"If I keep working harder, pushing myself to the limits, I think in the future I will be able to play for the national team," he said.

"Previously I was not into football. But something changed when I watched the World Cup... when I saw Lionel Messi."

"Then I knew, this is my passion," he said.

E.AbuRizq--SF-PST