FAM defers to AFC on whether to disclose the audit report amid calls for transparency from Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh.
PETALING JAYA: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has left it entirely to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to decide on calls by Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh for the full audit report on FAM to be made public and tabled in Parliament.
FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman said the audit report cannot be disclosed arbitrarily because it requires careful consideration and could create the perception of external interference in the administration of the national football governing body.
“As far as FAM is concerned, we cannot simply release it because we do not want government interference in the association. We are somewhat different from other associations. That is why I do not want such a situation to occur.
“I hope we can resolve this matter with AFC and FIFA. At the AFC and FIFA levels, I believe the matter has already been settled. They have provided us with the audit, and we have also identified the weaknesses that arose,” he told reporters at a press conference here today.
Meanwhile, FAM honorary president Hamidin Mohd Amin said the decision on whether the audit report should be made public now rests with FAM’s new leadership.
“That is their prerogative. We will wait for the decision from FAM or AFC on whether the report will be disclosed.
“I do not have the authority in this matter. It will be discussed by the new FAM president and executive committee together with AFC before any decision is made,” he said.
Earlier, media reports stated that Ramkarpal had called for the full AFC audit report on FAM to be disclosed publicly so that governance issues within the football governing body could be debated comprehensively.
He also expressed his intention to raise the matter during the parliamentary sitting scheduled to begin on June 22, stressing that an effective debate could only take place if the audit report were made available to the public.
