KBS To Continue Empowering Local Football Development Despite Heritage Player Issue

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) has assured that it will continue to strengthen the development of national football despite the current crisis affecting the sport in the country.

Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari said that the strengthening includes developing national football at the grassroots level through the National Football Development Programme (NFDP).

Dr Mohammed Taufiq said he would also launch several programmes under the NFDP in the near future after holding discussions with Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman, recently.

“We are strengthening the NFDP programme to ensure that more new talents can be unearthed.

“The reason for me is that the most important thing is for us to continue moving forward, to ensure that our football does not lag far behind,” he told reporters after launching the KBS Esports Fund (DEK) 2026 and the Malaysia Esports Accelarator Programme (MEAP) 2026 near Puchong, here, today.

Therefore, Dr Mohammed Taufiq hopes that all Malaysians, especially football fans, will not lose heart and continue to support the development of national football.

National football is currently facing the issue of forged naturalisation documents and qualifications of seven national heritage players.

The seven players involved are Hector Hevel, Imanol Machuca, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Gabriel Palmero.

Last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially accepted the appeal of the seven players against the punishment imposed by The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) over the falsification of naturalisation and eligibility documents.

In an operative decision issued without detailed reasons, CAS ruled that the seven players remain suspended for 12 months. However, the ban now only applies to official matches and not all football-related activities.

CAS also upheld the CHF350,000 (about RM1.8 million) fine imposed on FAM and described the punishment as fair and proportionate.

The issue first came to light last September after FIFA discovered that falsified documents were used to support the eligibility of seven foreign-born players representing Malaysia in international matches.

-- BERNAMA