KUALA LUMPUR (4 Feb 2012) – Sultan Ahmad Shah, the president of the FA of Malaysia (FAM) and who is also the president of the AFF, said this week that players who are involved in match-fixing should have the conscience to leave the game by their own accord.
He said that there is no good reason why players should indulge in this immoral activity considering that they are well paid in the Malaysian League.
“If you want to be involved in corrupt practices, the please stop playing football. It is unacceptable. I would like to state it now that whoever is involved in match-fixing, I will take action,” said Sultan Ahmad (pix).
“It is a sin to be involved in match-fixing and players should realized that they should consider themselves lucky able to get paid just to play football.”
In the meantime the New Straits Times reported that the FAM had this week banned 18 youth team players between 2 to 5 years while a former Negri Sembilan coach was given a life-time suspension for involvement in match-fixing.
Six players each from the 2011 Negri Sembilan, T-Team and Muar Municipal Council Under-21 President’s Cup squads were found to have been involved in illegal football activities relating to three figures who were charged with bribing players last year.
The FAM began investigations into the President’s Cup players in December and the evidence and recommendation of action were finalised last month before being presented to the executive committee.
“This proves that we are serious about combating match-fixing. Let this be a lesson to all players, coaches and officials involved in FAM-sanctioned tournaments,” said FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
The bans mean the 18 players are barred from all official football related activities and their names, which will be made public on Wednesday after the necessary paperwork, will be circulated to all state affiliates and clubs.
