“Using fraudulent documentation to allow a player to compete constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned. Such conduct erodes trust in the fairness of competitions and jeopardises the very essence of football as an activity founded on honesty and transparency.”

- Fifa Disciplinary Committee, Oct 6

COMMENT | These 48 words were sufficient to describe the state of Malaysian football and make it to BBC, Al-Jazeera, ESPN, Deutsche Welle (DW), and scores of other international publications and news portals around the world.

Taking to the adage that attack is the best form of defence, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has adopted a three-pronged attack on the findings by the Disciplinary Committee of Fifa, the world’s governing body for football:

• Local laws bar the FAM from disclosing details about the citizenship process;

• Fifa offered no evidence to support the allegations of forgery and false documentation; and

• A “technical error” was made in the submission of documents by its administrative staff to Fifa.

Yet, the FAM continues to take the stance that it did not wrong, but on Tuesday, it added yet another reason...