Megat D Shahriman Ready To Lead FAM

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM) president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin has expressed interest in leading the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) ahead of the FAM Executive Committee election for the 2025-2029 term, next month.

Megat D Shahriman said football has a special place in his life and he personally follows the current developments of the national team as well as issues in FAM.

He said if given the opportunity to lead the country's football governing body, the first step would be to examine the association's financial accounts and liabilities in depth.

"If I have the opportunity to become FAM President, the first thing I will do, what are FAM's accounts, what are FAM's liabilities, how much money is there, what is our exposure. From there we can see where the money goes.

"Both ensure that FAM affiliates are fully informed about the association's financial movements and then discuss with them again what they want (to move forward)," he said during a press conference here today.

He said the approach was important to ensure the sustainability and integrity of FAM, especially if the association was in a challenging situation.

"Because to us it's like this, if one union is too much in a dying stage it means in terms of finances and then there's a lot of leakages, so you have to go back to your affiliates. We don't need to sweep under the carpet because they need to know where the money goes," he said.

Meanwhile, when asked about the great challenge regarding the allegation of the existence of a 'supernatural hand' in the country's football, Megat D Shahriman said the matter should be handled wisely without pawning principles and the constitution if it is true.

"If you want to be a president, if there is a supernatural hand you must be able to handle the supernatural hand without compromising you have a constitution, procedures and governance, all that has to be intact. You cannot bulldoze, you cannot simply make a decision without consensus that's wrong.

"You have to be advised that there is a supernatural hand or not you must be advised. You must be able to handle it and must be able to tell what are the things to be done and what things not to be done," he said.

Based on the FAM statute, any individual can contest provided that they get enough nominations from affiliates with a total of six nominations required to contest for the presidency.

Previously, former FAM deputy president Datuk Seri Afandi Hamzah and corporate member Sayf Ismail were among those who offered to contest for the presidency while FAM vice-president Datuk Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub was said to be the 'approved' candidate to replace Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin. 

The election of the FAM Executive Committee for the 2025-2029 term at the parent body's congress is scheduled to take place on Feb 15 while the closing date for nominations is Jan 16.

--BERNAMA