Grim audit report awaits new FAM leadership

KUALA LUMPUR: The incoming leadership of Malaysia's Football Association (FAM) will receive a sobering audit from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) upon assuming office following the September 17 election-congress. AFC General-Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor Paul announced that the comprehensive audit report, which uncovered a decade of institutional decline within FAM, will be officially handed over to the new executive committee.

As previously mentioned during the last audit presentation, the complete report will be presented to the new executive committee, Windsor informed Timesport. This sets the stage for a transfer of power in the association plagued with criticism this Thursday. Regardless of which candidate assumes the presidency of the FAM presidency, whether it be Malaysian Football League president Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan or the deputy president of the FA of Selangor, Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar, the new executive committee will confront an unwelcome audit report that demands the restoration of Malaysian football.

The AFC audit revealed that FAM had neglected to formally submit its annual budgets to the congress for approval since 2016. Up to 70 percent of expenditures were also found to be absorbed by staff operational costs and national team campaigns, leaving both grassroots and technical pathways deprived of funding.