COMMENT | The findings were never in doubt. They lied. They stalled. They denied. And still, the truth emerged. Beneath the bravado and defiance lies something more troubling - the erosion of trust in institutions meant to safeguard citizenship.

For ordinary Malaysians who wait years, sometimes decades, for recognition of their rightful status, watching seven foreign footballers breeze through a flawed process is not just infuriating, it is heartbreaking.

The National Registration Department (NRD) rushed through the procedures to grant Malaysian citizenship to these players in an irregular fashion.

This is not new. Commentators, this writer included, had flagged the flaws as early as September last year, but as the issue dragged on, the evidence recorded by the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) Appeals Committee revealed falsification and forgery of documents.

The players could not speak...