FAM to hold emergency meeting over Terengganu foreign players issue

The FA of Malaysia (FAM) will seek to extricate itself from a tangle with Terengganu over the eligibility of foreign players today when it holds an emergency competitions committee meeting at Wisma FAM.

With Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said threatening to pull the state team and club side Kuala Terengganu T-Team out of the M-League, the spat has reach alarming levels and forced FAM into looking for an immediate solution.

What that entails will only be known today as the debate over the wording of a Dec 23 circular threatens to engulf the entire Super League.

FAM general secretary Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad, however, did not want to pour oil on the raging fire and declined comment on the issue.

"We will answer all queries after the emergency competitions committee meeting is chaired by Datuk Hamidin Amin tomorrow (today)," said Azzuddin when contacted yesterday.

Terengganu are aghast that they have not been allowed to register Liberian striker Francis Doe Forkey and Brazilian midfielder Erison Da Silva Santos after taking the circular to mean that they had been allowed special dispensation to register new foreign imports, given their participation in the AFC Cup.

FAM contend, however, that the circular meant for Terengganu and Kelantan, the other Malaysian team in the AFC Cup, to state which two of their imports that they registered, when the transfer window closed on Dec 8, would play in the M-League.

In practice, this only applied to Kelantan, who have four foreign players, and needed to state ahead of the Charity Shield match on Jan 7, which two would play in domestic competitions.

Terengganu were given until the Super League kick-off on Jan 10 to do the same, although they registered only two players -- Brazilian midfielder Tercio Nunes Machado and Gambian striker Mohamadou Suamareh -- on the transfer deadline day of Dec 8.

Machado's registration was rejected by FAM for not meeting regulations while Suamareh's contract was cancelled after Terengganu took the Dec 23 circular to mean they could register new foreign players.

Terengganu went ahead and signed Forkey and Santos as replacements only for FAM to turn down the new registrations.