Despite mass resignations, FAM still faces a severe ruling from CAS

The collective resignation of the FAM Executive Committee does not affect the appeal process at CAS, as the case centers on falsifying player documents, according to Malaysian legal experts.

The entire Executive Committee members of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) resigning simultaneously will not have a direct impact on the appeal process concerning the scandal of forged documentation of seven naturalized players at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

This is the assessment of sports and commercial lawyer Nik Erman Nik Roseli in an interview with Malaysian media. According to him, the resignations are likely a gesture of "appeasement," aiming to persuade FIFA not to impose harsher penalties on FAM.

Nik Erman believes the core issue at CAS is unrelated to governance or personnel matters but revolves around the act of falsifying key legal documents under review. “For FIFA, the problem of forged documents stems from poor management. If the old faces remain entrenched, FIFA could certainly take stronger measures,”he explained.

However, according to Nik Erman, the FAM Executive Committee’s resignation might be viewed as a compromise solution, allowing the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to step in and assist with governance reforms instead of having FIFA intervene directly.

Previously, FAM officially announced that all Executive Committee members for the 2025–2029 term voluntarily resigned immediately. The association stated that this decision was made to protect the organization’s reputation and long-term interests and to minimize the risk of facing more severe consequences for Malaysian football.

FAM also affirmed that this move aims to provide FIFA and AFC with independent space to evaluate, review, and if necessary, address governance and operational issues within the association. During the transition period, FAM will be managed by the Secretary-General. Meanwhile, AFC has been invited to support the assessment and reform of the management system to resolve current shortcomings.

Regarding the case of the seven naturalized players, CAS plans to hold an in-person hearing on February 26. Lawyer Nik Erman predicts that the ruling is unlikely to be announced on the day of the hearing but will be issued later after the arbitration panel completes deliberations and drafts the legal reasoning.