KUALA LUMPUR: France's renowned investigative journalist Romain Molina has launched a scathing attack on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) following the nomination of the FA of Malaysia (FAM) for a top award.
Molina questioned the AFC's integrity on social media platform X after FAM was named among the contenders for the AFC Member Association of the Year (Gold) award.
"The AFC is a joke: how can the Malaysian Football Association be in the running for the Association of the Year after being found guilty in 2025 of falsifying the nationalities of seven players?" Molina posted.
"It seems as though corruption and wrongdoing are being encouraged."
Molina's remarks refer to the controversial 2025 lineage documentation submitted by FAM for heritage players, which drew scrutiny and sanctions from FIFA.
The saga plunged FAM into one of the darkest periods in its history, as the scandal, which involved seven naturalised players, drew global criticism. It eventually led to the mass resignation of FAM's executive committee.
FAM has been shortlisted alongside the FA of Hong Kong, China, and the All India Football Federation for the Gold category ahead of the AFC Annual Awards in Bangkok.
Molina's remarks have reignited fiery debate among fans across Southeast Asia over whether FAM was deserving of an award after what it has done.
Meanwhile the AFC responded to Molina's criticism by stating: "All Associations are required to submit their report of activities/programmes to the AFC and a selection panel will decide based on existing objective assessment with points given for each line item such as, grassroots, youth competitions, hosting etc.
"The assessment takes into account a wide range of areas of football in an association. You score high in some, medium in some and probably no score in other areas."
Timesport has also reached out to FAM for comments on the matter.
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