Saifuddin previously assured Parliament that the players had undergone proper vetting and language tests. However, findings by Fifa’s appeal committee released on Tuesday, supported by testimony from the players themselves, revealed that several of them did not speak Malay and had simply signed documents without understanding them.
In a statement, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) said the disclosures cast doubt on the integrity of the country’s citizenship process and raised concerns that procedures might have been circumvented or fabricated.
C4 said Saifuddin, who has been adamant about the importance of strict citizenship controls to ensure that only the most suitable people receive Malaysian citizenship, must explain how these controls were relaxed for the seven players.
C4 also demanded to know how the players “passed” language tests, the basis on which eligibility requirements were waived, who within the home ministry approved their citizenship applications, and whether external pressure influenced the fast-tracking of applications.
“It is important to note that Saifuddin’s explanation in Parliament – that he exercised his discretion as home minister to reduce or waive certain requirements for the players to obtain citizenship – does not account for the blatant forgeries,” said C4.
“It is worth remembering that this situation makes a mockery of the numerous stateless and undocumented persons in Malaysia who remain in legal limbo and do not get the same privileges as these players.
“Saifuddin must immediately clarify his role in the affair to Parliament, and answer for his misleading statements. If he is unable to uphold and protect the country’s citizenship processes, then he is unfit for the job.”
The anti-graft group also said it was shocking that the government had “minimised” the situation given that it was an international scandal that had brought “immense disrepute to our nation and made a mockery of our citizenship process”.
Fifa’s regulations allow players to represent a country if their parents or grandparents were born there, with Fifa’s appeal committee stating on Tuesday that there had been a deliberate and coordinated attempt to evade Fifa regulations on the matter.
The world football governing body previously said that contrary to documents submitted by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) claiming that the grandparents of the seven naturalised players were born in Malaysia, its own investigation found original records indicating that the grandparents were actually born in Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and the Netherlands.
Fifa has said that it will launch a formal investigation into FAM’s internal operations to identify the individuals responsible for the falsification of birth certificates, and assess the adequacy and effectiveness of FAM’s internal compliance and governance mechanisms.
Fifa also called for law enforcement agencies in Malaysia to probe the falsification of documents, stating that forgery is an offence “in virtually all jurisdictions”.
In its statement, C4 called for all FAM officials involved in the matter to be suspended pending investigations. It also stressed the need for structural governance reforms at FAM to prevent the future abuse of process, including external oversight mechanisms.
C4 said that FAM must cooperate with enforcement bodies to identify those responsible for coordinating the forgery, and that the probes must not spare top officials who coordinated or conspired to carry out the acts.
“It is unimaginable that fraud of this scale could have been carried out by lower-ranking officers alone. FAM must not simply throw out a few scapegoats while ignoring the ringleaders.
“With trust in the body at rock bottom, severe action must be taken, regardless of position or status.”