VIDEO SHOWS: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (FAM) NEWS CONFERENCE / SOUNDBITES FROM FAM DEPUTY PRESIDENT, S. SIVASUNDARAM, AND LAWYER, SERGE VITTOZ / TROPHIES ON DISPLAY IN FRONT OF FAM LOGO RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA (OCTOBER 17, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. BANNER WITH LOGOS OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (FAM), INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL (FIFA), ASIAN FOOTBALL CONFEDERATION AND ASEAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION 2. LOGO OF FAM ON BANNER 3. NEWS CONFERENCE STARTING 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (FAM) DEPUTY PRESIDENT, S. SIVASUNDRAM, SAYING: "The appeal has been officially lodged with FIFA, and we now await the next stage of the process. FAM maintains that these players were lawfully naturalised in accordance with Malaysian law. FAM has appointed an independent administrative and governance committee to avoid any further similar issues and align with the highest standards of international football." 5. S. SIVASUNDRAM SPEAKING AS SEEN ON A CAMERA SCREEN 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (FAM) DEPUTY PRESIDENT, S. SIVASUNDRAM, SAYING: "The general secretary of FAM will be suspended from duty effective today, pending further investigation in order to allow an independent committee to carry out the exercise." 7. MALAYSIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO), ROB FRIEND, SPEAKING 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAWYER REPRESENTING THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (FAM), SERGE VITTOZ, SAYING: "The objective of the appeal is to have all sanctions annulled, is to demonstrate that there was no forgery on the side of the players. There was no forgery on the side of the FAM as an institution, and if any wrongdoing was done, it should be targeted to the person in question." 9. S. SIVASUNDRAM SHAKING HANDS WITH FRIEND AND VITTOZ AFTER NEWS CONFERENCE 10. VITTOZ AND FRIEND LEAVING AFTER NEWS CONFERENCE 11. LOGO OF FAM AT ENTRANCE OF BUILDING 12. CLOSE UP OF FAM LOGO 13. TROPHIES ON DISPLAY WITH FAM LOGO SEEN AT BACK STORY: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said on Friday (October 17) it had suspended its secretary-general and will form an independent committee to investigate a "technical error" that led to FIFA suspending seven naturalised players of the national team over the alleged use of doctored documents. During a heated news conference on Friday, FAM and its legal team denied that it had committed forgery, but declined to address repeated questions from reporters on how the players were naturalised, pending its appeal against the ban. FAM Deputy President S. Sivasundram said the organisation's Secretary-General Noor Azman Rahman had been suspended effective immediately to allow for an independent probe. Serge Vittoz, a lawyer representing FAM, said the organisation has filed an appeal against FIFA's suspension, with a decision expected to be handed down on October 30. The FIFA disciplinary committee last week said Malaysian authorities may have relied on forged documents to naturalise the mixed-heritage players Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. It also accused FAM of failing to conduct due diligence, after FIFA was able to obtain birth certificates that had significant discrepancies with those submitted by FAM to show the players' Malaysian lineage. (Production: Mandy Leong Huey Mun)
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