Players, officials involved in match-fixing to be banned for life: FAM President

KOTA KINABALU: Football players and officials involved in match-fixing will be banned for life from all football activities, said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim today.
He said the decision was part of the new FAM executive committee's goal to tackle corruption issues within the country's football sphere.
"We (FAM) can do the best we can by working with the authorities, whether it is the police or the MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission) to tackle hooliganism, match-fixing, and so on.
"For now, the disciplinary committee, integrity committee and all disciplinary boards have to be very firm because I have zero tolerance when it comes to corruption," he said.
He said this to reporters after chairing FAM's first executive committee meeting for the 2017-2021 term here.
The Tunku Makhota of Johor also said FAM has given MACC full access to football associations and clubs as well as FAM to conduct thorough investigation, which will assist FAM in combatting corruption in football.
He also said fans of teams involved in hooliganism during a match will also cost the teams points, rather than a fine as punishment for failing to control their supporters.
He explained that a fine imposed on the associations or clubs could not compensate for the pain that the affected teams had to endure and their fans should also bear the responsibility of their actions.
"Therefore, there will be point deduction so that fans know that when they create a ruckus, the victims will be their team and not association or club members," he said.
On the appointment of a national coach, Tunku Ismail said he will meet several foreign coaches soon and expects to name someone to fill the position in a matter of weeks to come.
Regarding the executive committee meeting, he said FAM agreed to pay its debts to teams it owes involving a sum of about RM9 million, which he insisted those teams to settle their own debts immediately upon receiving payment from FAM or serious action would be taken.
He acknowledged that FAM was not in the best financial position after he took over the presidency 12 days ago and that to clear off its debts would involve dipping into its fixed savings, a decision he considered unwise.
However, he said this gave FAM the drive to work extra hard to source funds and recover its losses. — Bernama