23/12/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | DEC 23, 2025

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T HE Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will lodge a police report soon over alleged document forgery involving seven Harimau Malaya heritage players. Acting FAM president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi confirmed that the decision was made during the association’s Executive Committee (Exco) meeting held yesterday. “We will lodge a report regarding the alleged forgery of documents (involving heritage players) that were submitted to the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa), and to determine who is responsible for the forgery,” he told reporters after the meeting at Wisma FAM. In addition to the police report, Mohd Yusoff said FAM will also comply with all recommendations issued by the Independent Investigation Committee (IIC) in relation to the alleged document forgery involving the seven Harimau Malaya heritage players. The IIC, in its full 59-page investigation report, had submitted three recommendations to FAM following the document forgery issue involving the players. Among them was that FAM should

FAM to lodge police report … over alleged document forgery involving seven Harimau Malaya heritage players

status quo while awaiting the official outcome, before any comprehensive reform measures are considered, he said. “This process must be concluded first. Only then can we make well-informed decisions in the best interest of FAM and Malaysian football,” he said. Mohd Yusoff added that FAM has already submitted all relevant documents to CAS and is currently awaiting confirmation of the hearing date. “At this point, the matter has effectively reached the CAS stage. We are now just waiting for the hearing date to be fixed,” he said. – Bernama

FAM undertake oversight and structural reforms, as well as implement preventive measures and credibility recovery efforts in terms of governance. Meanwhile, commenting on the administrative reforms proposed by the IIC, Mohd Yusoff said FAM will only proceed with their implementation after receiving the official decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said the CAS ruling will be a key determinant in deciding whether the existing leadership structure will be maintained or if a major overhaul is required. At present, FAM’s main focus is to maintain the

immediately lodge a police report to enable the authorities to conduct a full and proper investigation to verify the origin of the documents suspected to be forged and to identify those responsible. The committee noted that the case involves allegations of forgery of official documents, which constitutes a criminal offence under Malaysian law. The IIC also recommended that FAM’s Disciplinary Committee initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against the association’s secretary-general, subject to due process requirements. In addition, the committee proposed that

Fifa to summon Noor Azman in its investigation THE International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) will summon Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman as part of its investigation into alleged document forgery involving seven national heritage players. Acting FAM president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi said the investigation aims to ascertain Noor Azman’s role and level of involvement in the alleged for gery. “We have also received an email from Fifa informing us that they will be investigating him. “Fifa wants to gain a clearer under standing of the processes involving Noor Azman and the responsibilities he carried out,” he told a media conference after a special FAM Executive Committee (Exco) meeting at Wisma FAM yesterday. Mohd Yusoff said Noor Azman will also be referred to FAM’s Disciplinary Committee to determine his position. He said the Disciplinary Committee’s decision will subsequently be referred to the Exco for a final determination on Noor Azman’s status. “It depends on the extent of the offence. If the offence is minor, there are corresponding penalties, and if it is seri ous, there are heavier penalties. Ultimately, the Exco will make the final decision,” he said. In October, Noor Azman was sus pended with immediate effect follow ing an investigation by Fifa into the status of the seven Harimau Malaya heritage players. – Bernama

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Aston Villa 2 (Rogers 45, 57) Manchester United 1 (Cunha 45+3) . TOP 10 P W D L F A Pts Arsenal 17 12 3 2 31 10 39 Man City 17 12 1 4 41 16 37 Aston Villa 17 11 3 3 27 18 36 Chelsea 17 8 5 4 29 17 29 Liverpool 17 9 2 6 28 25 29 Sunderland 17 7 6 4 19 17 27 Man Utd 17 7 5 5 31 28 26 Crystal Palace 17 7 5 5 21 19 26 Brighton 17 6 6 5 25 23 24 Everton 17 7 3 7 18 20 24 LA LIGA: Girona 0 Atletico Madrid 3 (Koke 13, Gallagher 38, Griezmann 90+2) , Villarreal 0 Barcelona 2 (Raphinha 12 pen, Yamal 63) , Elche 4 (Fort 6, Rodriguez 67, Valera 70, Neto 90+1) Rayo Vallecano 0, Real Betis 4 (Ruibal 16, 49, Fornals 52, Hernandez 60) Getafe 0. TOP 6 P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 18 15 1 2 51 20 46 Real Madrid 18 13 3 2 36 16 42 Atletico 18 11 4 3 33 16 37 Villarreal 16 11 2 3 31 15 35 Espanyol 16 9 3 4 20 16 30 Real Betis 17 7 7 3 29 19 28 SERIE A: Cagliari 2 (Folorunsho 59, Kilic soy 71) Pisa 2 (Tramoni 45-pen, Moreo 89) , Fiorentina 5 (Mandragora 22, Gudmunds son 42, Ndour 45+5, Kean 56, 68) Udinese 1 (Solet 66) , Genoa 0 Atalanta 1 (Hien 90+4) , Sassuolo 0 Torino 1 (Vlasic 66 pen) . TOP 6 P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 15 11 0 4 34 14 33 AC Milan 15 9 5 1 24 13 32 Napoli 15 10 1 4 22 13 31 Roma 16 10 0 6 17 10 30 Juventus 16 8 5 3 21 15 29 Bologna 15 7 4 4 23 13 25 BUNDESLIGA: Heidenheim 0 Bayern Munich 4, Mainz 0 St Pauli 0. TOP 6 P W D L F A Pts B. Munich 15 13 2 0 55 11 41 Dortmund 15 9 5 1 26 12 32 Leverkusen 15 9 2 4 33 20 29 RB Leipzig 15 9 2 4 30 19 29 Hoffenheim 15 8 3 4 29 20 27 Stuttgart 15 8 2 5 25 22 26 FRENCH CUP (Rd of 64) : Auxerre 1 Monaco 2, Bourg-Peronnas 0 Marseille 6, Concarneau 3 Nantes 5, Nice 2 Saint Etienne 1, Strasbourg 2 Dunkerque 1, Bassin d'Arcachon 0 Hauts-Lyonnais 1, Le Havre 0 Amiens 2, Le Puy 1 Bordeaux 0, Montreuil 2 Chauvigny 1, Orleans 3 Dieppe 0, Rennes 3 Les Sables 0, Lyon 3 Saint-Cyr Collonges 0. AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Group A: Morocco 2 (Diaz 55, El Kaabi 74) Comoros 0.

Turtles to end Super League first round on winning note

Terengganu FC head coach Badrul Afzan Razali. – BERNAMAPIC

TERENGGANU FC (TFC) are determined to secure three full points in the final match of the first round of the Super League against Sabah FC at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium (SSMZA) tonight. Head coach Badrul Afzan Razali said the previous victory over Immigration FC (IFC) was a morale booster for his men to continue creating victories, thus strengthening TFC’s position in the top five of the league. He said the match against the Rhinos was not only important for TFC to close the league cur tain with a victory in front of their own fans, but also as a farewell gift for imported midfielder

able to play against the squad coached by Jean-Paul de Marigny. The 49-year-old coach said the services of experienced play ers such as Muhammad Azam Azmi Murad and Muhammad Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili were needed to strengthen the defence of the Turtles. “We are aware that Sabah is a strong team and they have proven it by becoming the final ists of the FA Cup this season. “Although they (Sabah FC) lost to the Brunei team recently, we still cannot take it easy and need to focus and be disciplined to steal points,” he said. – Bernama

Nurillo Tukhtasinov who will return to Uzbekistan at the end of this month. “I want the players to continue the winning momentum we cre ated in Penang the other day. The most important thing is to main tain consistency and focus on the mission to collect three points. “My main focus is to maintain TFC’s position in the top five. For that, we need to get three points to distance ourselves from other teams,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday. In a similar development, Badrul Afzan also expressed relief that several key players who were plagued by injury problems were recovering and were likely to be

SHORTS

Meanwhile, when asked about the setting of key performance indicators (KPIs) for Kim Swee, Mohd Yusoff said the former Sabah FC coach must show better achievements compared with the previous incumbent. “Development programmes usually require a period of at least two years because they cannot be achieved in a short time. KPIs need to be set higher than before and evaluated annually. “We don’t want to appoint new people but the KPIs remain the same. Each individual needs to show better results or make a positive impact on the programme,” he said. SEA Games 2027 sports events to be held in Kuching ALL 17 sporting events of the 2027 SEA Games in Sarawak will be held in Kuching city. Sarawak Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim

Rahman Hamzah said the decision was made by the 2027 SEA Games Organising Committee. “This decision was made because the SEA Games is a regional-scale sport and many things need to be considered, especially such as logistical factors, accommodation in hotels with certain stars, connectivity, international-class sports facilities and many more. “If it is a national-level sport, of course any other city in Sarawak can be involved,” he told Bernama . Malaysia will host the 2027 SEA Games from Sept 18 to 29 which will be divided into four main clusters, namely Sarawak, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur. The Sarawak cluster will be the main cluster with the location of the opening ceremony, with 17 sports being contested, namely aquatics, weightlifting, basketball, bowling, field bowling, e sports, gymnastics, golf, cricket, archery, shooting, muay thai, petanque, squash, taekwondo, tennis and wushu.

Kim Swee appointed as technical director

FORMER Harimau Malaya coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee was announced as the director of the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) effective Dec 1. Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) acting president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi said his party believes that Kim Swee’s experience can drive the NFDP. “We fully trust Kim Swee and the technical team to evaluate each officer and coach based on the wisdom and needs of the programme. “What is important is that every decision must drive this programme towards the better. The main focus is to ensure that each coach and officer is able to make a positive impact and contribute to the effectiveness of the programme,” he said.