The Football Association of Malaysia (commonly abbreviated as FAM; ) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia, headquartered at Wisma FAM. The FAM is also one of the founding members of both the

ASEAN Football Federation The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) is an organisation within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is an international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer in Southeast Asia. It consists of the federations of Fo ...

(AFF) and the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

(AFC). It has been affiliated with

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

since 1954. The FAM oversees the organisation and development of football and advancing the game at all levels in Malaysia, and is responsible for all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory. This includes the men's, women's and

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

national football teams as well as the Malaysian Amateur Football League and Malaysia Premier Futsal League.

History

Pre-independence football

The British introduced football to Malaya, and the locals quickly embraced the game, making it the country's leading sport. By the late 19th century, football had become a central activity in most sports clubs across Malaya, though it lacked proper structure. The establishment of the Selangor Amateur Football League in 1905 brought some administration and organization, but the competition remained limited to clubs in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. In 1921, the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

HMS Malaya visited the country. After competing in football and rugby matches with local teams, the officers and crew decided to commemorate the games by presenting trophies for annual competitions in both sports. This led to the establishment of a national football tournament involving all states in Malaya. Known initially as the Malaya Cup—later renamed the Malaysia Cup in 1963—the competition has been held continuously, except during the war years. In 1926, the Selangor Amateur Football League was officially established. Ten years later, in 1936, the Football Association of Selangor was formed. This association began organizing tournaments, which inspired other states in Malaya to follow suit. Also in 1926, the Football Associations of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, and the Singapore Amateur Football Association came together to form the Malayan Football Association (MFA). The MFA was created to assemble a Malayan team to compete against an Australian side visiting Singapore that year. In 1933, the MFA was reorganized into the Football Association of Malaya (FAM). Initially headquartered in Singapore, the FAM took on responsibility for running the Malaya Cup competition. The first FAM president was Sir Andrew Caldecott, followed by M.B. Shelley, Dr. J.S. Webster, S.D. Scott, R. Williamson, and Adrian Clark, who served until 1940. As Europe entered full-scale war with Germany, FAM operations moved from Singapore to Malaya, and A.R. Singham became the first Asian secretary in 1941. After the war, J.E. King became FAM's president, succeeded by H.P. Byson and then Dr. C. Rawson, who served for two years before the position was taken over by the first non-British president. In 1951,

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...

—later Malaysia's first Prime Minister—was appointed as FAM president. Under his leadership, football in Malaysia entered a new phase, with the FAM playing a more prominent role beyond organizing the Malaysia Cup. In 1956, FAM became one of the 14 founding members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Two years later, it achieved full membership in

After independence

Tunku Abdul Rahman's passion for football played a pivotal role in the construction of the Merdeka Stadium, which in 1957 became a historic site as the venue for Malaysia's independence declaration from Britain. The stadium also marked the beginning of the Merdeka Tournament ( Pestabola Merdeka), which was popularly referred to as the 'Mini Asia Cup' from the 1960s to the 1980s. The tournament was a significant success and inspired similar events such as the Jakarta Anniversary Tournament in Indonesia, the King's Cup in Thailand, and the President's Cup in South Korea. The inaugural

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

—then the premier football competition in Asia—was won by Hong Kong. Malaya claimed the title three consecutive times, winning in 1958 and 1959, and sharing it with South Korea in 1960. The country later qualified for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich and the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

in Moscow. In the early 1960s, the organization's name was officially changed to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Tunku Abdul Rahman continued to promote football development, particularly through youth competitions, until his resignation in 1974. His successor, Malaysia's second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, held the post for one year before Hamzah Abu Samah took over in 1976. Hamzah, who was the Minister of Trade and Industry, introduced several initiatives to develop the sport. Between 1976 and 1984, numerous football programs were implemented under Hamzah's leadership. The FAM entered a new phase when the Sultan of Pahang, Haji Ahmad Shah, assumed leadership. His tenure saw the introduction of the semi-professional league in 1989, which eventually transitioned into full professionalism. Despite these efforts, success on the international stage for Malaysia's national team remained elusive. One of the highlights of Malaysian football history was hosting the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. Domestically, the league underwent several transformations, culminating in the establishment of the Malaysia Super League (M-League) in 2004. However, the national team suffered significant defeats in international competitions during this period. On 13 September 2018, FAM received the AFC Dream Asia Award in the Developing Category. In 2019, FAM was also awarded the AFC Dream Asia Award (Bronze) in the Inspiring Category.

Associations affiliation

There are 20 Football Associations affiliated to the FAM. Besides the 14 FAs with regional location, six others are affiliated units.

State affiliation

* Football Association of Perlis (PFA) * Football Association Penang (FAP) * Kedah Football Association (KFA) * Perak Football Association (PAFA) * Football Association of Selangor (FAS) * Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) * Negeri Sembilan Football Association (NSFA) * Melaka Football Association (MAFA) *

Johor Football Association Johor Football Association (JFA; ) is the governing body of Association football, football for the state of Johor, Malaysia. JFA is responsible for coordinating and developing football in Johor, and has teamed up with the Football Association o ...

(JFA) * Football Association of Kelantan (KAFA) * Football Association of Terengganu (TFA) * Football Association of Pahang (PBNP) * Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) * Sabah Football Association (SAFA)

Affiliation units

* Malaysian Malay's Football Association (PBMM) * Malaysian Chinese Football Association (MCFA) * Malaysian Indian Sports Council (MISC) * Royal Malaysia Police Football Association (RMPFA) * Malaysian Armed Forces Football Association (AFFA) * Football Coaches Association of Malaysia (PJBM) * FAM-MSN Project (FMPS)

Competitions

The Football Association of Malaysia had run all top football competitions in Malaysia until 2015, when the Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP), which is now known as the Malaysian Football League (MFL) was formed as part of the privatisation of the Malaysian football league system. The MFL took over all the top professional football competition previously managed by the FAM. The list below are the competitions which are managed by the Malaysia Football League since it inception in 2015: * Liga Super * Liga Premier (until 2022) *

Malaysia A1 Semi-Pro League The Malaysia A1 Semi-Pro League (, previously known as the Malaysia M3 League and the MBSB Bank Championship due to sponsorship reasons) is the second level association football, football league of the Malaysian football league system.http://j ...

* Malaysia A2 Amateur League * Malaysia A3 Community League * Piala FA * Piala Malaysia * MFL Challenge Cup * Piala Sumbangsih (Super cup) * MFL Cup (U23) FAM now focuses on youth development football, women football and

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

leagues and tournaments in Malaysia: * Piala Presiden (U21) * Piala Belia (U19) * Malaysia National Women's League (Women's) * Piala Tun Sharifah Rodziah (Women's) * MPFL Division 1 * MPFL Division 2 * Malaysia Premier Futsal League (Women) * Malaysia Futsal Cup * Malaysia Futsal Cup (Women) AFL is a subsidiary of MFL that is responsible to organize and manage lower football leagues in Malaysia. * Liga A1 Semi-Pro * Liga A2 Amateur * Liga A3 Community

Awards

Principals

Management

Executive committee

* President: Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub * Deputy President: Yusoff Mahadi, S. Sivasundaram * Vice-president: Rosmadi Ismail, Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin, Dollah Salleh, Saaran Nadarajah * Other members: Zainal Abidin Hassan, Hishamuddin Abdul Karim, Mohd Hisamudin Yahaya, Mohd Azizudin Mohd Shariff, Tang Chee Hong, Kamarudin Hassan, Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri, Sugumaran Parthasarathy

FAM Judiciary

;Disciplinary * Chairman: Baljit Singh Sidhu * Deputy chairman: Abd Shukor Ahmad ;Appeals * Chairman: Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff * Deputy chairman: Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif

Club licencing

;First Instance Body * Chairman: Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif ;Appeals Body * Chairman: Wirdawati Mohd Radzi

Treasurer

* Chairman: Ismail Karim

National teams

* Chairman: Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub ;

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

* Manager: Peter Cklamovski ; Malaysia national under-23 football team * Manager: Nafuzi Zain ; Malaysia national under-22 football team * Manager: Nafuzi Zain ; Malaysia national under-19 football team * Manager: Juan Torres Garrido ; Malaysia national under-16 football team * Manager: Javier Jorda Ribera ; Malaysia women's national football team * Manager: Joel Cornelli ; Malaysia national futsal team * Manager: Rakphol Sainetngam ; Malaysia women's national futsal team * Manager: Chiew Chun Yong

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1933 establishments in British Malaya Sports organizations established in 1933

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Sports governing bodies in Malaysia

Football in Malaysia