“Being corrupt is bad enough, but acknowledging and accepting corruption in the open is beyond words,” said Tunku Ismail in a statement he posted on the Facebook page of the Johor Southern Tigers tonight.

“Did the FAM consider the long-term effects on local football? If bribery is so easily pardoned, how will it serve as a lesson for the new generation of players?”

Tunku Ismail said that the FAM should have maintained their tough stance on bribery, given Malaysian football’s current direction towards “a glorious era”.

“Players will no longer be haunted by fear, knowing that they will eventually be forgiven someday,” Tunku Ismail said.

This follows a report yesterday that the FAM executive committee had decided that 78 football players involved in corruption scandals and match fixing in the early 1990s could return to the sports at state and national levels.

The decision, said FAM Deputy President Afandi Hamzah, was made after obtaining the views of all parties including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), police and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

However, six more Sabah players in the 1990s who were given life suspensions by FAM will be referred to the International Football Federation (FIFA).

Tunku Ismail, who owns the Johor Darul Ta’azim (JDT) football club, has recently been vocal over the state of football in the country. Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had recently met with him to discuss this matter.

Tunku Ismail had previously challenged several important individuals in national football to debate the decline of the sport live on television.

Among the individuals challenged were Khairy, FAM representative and Harimau Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee, National Football Development Programme (PPBN) director Lim Teong Kim and president of the Football Coaches Association of Malaysia (PJBSM) B Sathianathan.