Sports Minister wants FAM to do more against corruption

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin wants the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to go after the big fish as well.

He commended FAM for slapping a RM5,000 fine on the 17 Kuala Lumpur players found guilty of match-fixing but said that should not be the end of the matter.

“The players were wrong, but FAM must also act against senior officers of the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) who exposed their players to bookies, leaving them with no choice but to co-operate,” he told reporters outside a hospital here on Tuesday after visiting a 10-year-old girl, who was slashed by her father recently.

“We will wait for further action from FAM, which should be to investigate these officers.”

On Monday, 17 players from Kuala Lumpur’s 2013 Premier League side were fined RM5,000 each by the FAM disciplinary committee.

In December, FAM had imposed life bans on five KL players and three team officials, including a kitman, for match-fixing. The eight were also fined RM20,000 each.

Khairy also called on FAM to provide any evidence they had on the bookies and officers involved to the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for further action to be taken.

“I hope for swift action once the evidence has been collected ... as we need to do this to battle corruption within the local football industry,” he said.