PUTRAJAYA, Sept 5 – Submitting a pen drive purportedly containing evidence of irregularities in the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should not be considered Government intervention in the national football body’s affairs. Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said all associations in the country should abide by the law, and if there were charges of misconduct, it should be investigated by the authorities.

“When there is a perception of the existence of corruption, which is a crime in the country, it (the matter) cannot be solved by the association’s (FAM) members and Fifa (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) should understand this. It cannot be considered as (government) intervention as it is an assumption pertaining to corruption, which involves public perception,” he said.

“In order to confirm there was no evidence of corruption within the association, I had to hand it (pendrive) to the MACC. What is meant by government intervention is in matters concerning FAM elections, policies, management and so on,” he said after witnessing the signing of a sponsorship agreement between Milo and Malaysia SEA Games organising committee in Putrajaya today.

He said this when asked to comment on a statement made by former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) secretary-general Peter Velappan on Astro Arena, telling Khairy to be careful when handling the issue as it could be considered a state intervention in footballing matters. Khairy had handed the pendrive, said to have contained a 279-page report on the alleged corruption, to the MACC on Friday, after receiving it from the Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim on Aug 26. — Bernama

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