By: Damian Fernandez

A scandal that should have been resolved in a week has now exposed the cracks in Malaysia’s leadership — from Saifuddin’s Houdini-style escape act to Anwar’s political paralysis, all while FIFA watches in disbelief.

The FAM citizenship scandal should have been a straightforward administrative clean-up — a quick audit, a transparent explanation, and decisive leadership from the relevant minister. Instead, it has spiralled into a national embarrassment where Saifuddin effortlessly sidesteps responsibility, Anwar responds as if every decision requires the approval of a celestial council, and Malaysia ends up footing the bill in credibility, reputation, and potentially sanctions. What should have been a footnote in our football history has now ballooned into a case study in how not to govern.

1. A Home Minister Missing in Action — Except for His Signature on Fraudulent Approvals.

2. FIFA Exposes Malaysia: No Accountability, No Reform, No Credibility.

3. Why Anwar Ibrahim Won’t Sack Saifuddin — And How It Destroys Madani’s Credibility.

Malaysia has seen scandals. We’ve seen corruption, incompetence, even the occasional minister who thought the rakyat wouldn’t notice a missing billion or two. But this—the FAM citizenship circus—is the first time we’ve had a scandal so embarrassing that even FIFA, an organisation not exactly famous for moral purity, looked at Malaysia and said:

“Wow. Even we wouldn’t do this.”

And what did Malaysia offer in response?

• No credible explanation.(Yes, we got an explanation — the kind so unbelievable it should’ve been filed under “fiction” and sold in the children’s section).

• No accountability.

• No reform plan.

Just dubious excuses.

And a big, echoing, guilty silence.

At the center of that silence is one man trying very hard to pretend he didn’t sign anything:

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail — the Harry Houdini of Malaysian politics.

He didn’t flee the country. He didn’t hold a press conference. He simply evaporated into thin air, leaving behind a cloud of incompetence and the faint smell of “I hope this blows over soon.”

Spoiler: it won’t.

Saifuddin’s Signature Is on the Paper, but His Morals Are on Vacation.

Let’s be honest: nothing about fast-tracked citizenship approvals for seven South American players could have happened without someone at the Home Ministry saying “Approved.”

Citizenship is the most sensitive document Malaysia issues—more valuable than a passport, more powerful than a visa, and harder to get than a parking spot in Bukit Bintang. And yet somehow, seven players got theirs faster than most Malaysians can renew their IC.

Saifuddin’s strategy is painfully obvious:

• Pretend it has nothing to do with him.

• Wait for public anger to die down.

• Let FAM become the main punching bag.

But Malaysians are not buying it. The issue involves citizenship, the most sensitive and serious national document Malaysia can issue. You cannot hang that on FAM. FAM doesn’t print passports. FAM doesn’t approve MyKads. FAM cannot naturalise foreign nationals.

FAM only benefitted from the approvals.

The approvals themselves came from Saifuddin – and he has admitted it publicly.

But when the scandal erupted, Saifuddin suddenly became:

• blind (“I didn’t see anything”),

• mute (“I can’t comment”),

• and invisible (“Is he still in the country?”).

He hasn’t said a word in weeks.

In Malaysia, this is called “leadership.”

In the real world, it’s called “running away from a crime scene.”

FAM Was Never the Main Problem.

While Malaysians were busy flaming FAM, as if FAM has the power to grant citizenship like a kedai fotostat stamping photocopies, FIFA took one look at the paperwork and said:

“This isn’t incompetence. This is deliberate.”

And they were right.

The issue wasn’t eligibility rules or administrative delays.

The issue was fraudulent naturalisation.

Fraudulent.
Naturalisation.

As in: someone knowingly treated Malaysian citizenship like a team jersey.

This is about the integrity of Malaysian citizenship—the very foundation of national identity, legal rights, and sovereignty. Citizenship is not a football tactic. It is not a contract negotiation. It is not something you issue because your team needs a better midfield.

Yet, this scandal suggests that citizenship has been been treated as a political convenience, a sporting shortcut, or a ministerial favour.

Instead of naming the person responsible, Malaysia tried to pretend the scandal was about “misunderstandings.”

FIFA replied, basically:

“Your paper says you’re lying.”

And they are right again.

Instead of naming the person responsible, Malaysia tried to pretend the scandal was about “misunderstandings.”

FIFA replied, basically:

“Your paper says you’re lying.”

And they are right again.

Enter Anwar Ibrahim: Malaysia’s Prime Minister of Selective Morality.

If there was ever a moment for Anwar to show leadership, integrity and the reformist spirit he lectures the world about, this was it.

Instead, Malaysians watched Anwar transform from:

“Champion of justice” → “Man quietly hoping Malaysians get distracted by a new TikTok trend.”

The PM has been so silent you’d think his microphone was muted.

Not one call for accountability.

Not one demand for explanation.

Not one hint that the Home Minister may have done something catastrophically stupid.

Why?
Because sacking Saifuddin would anger the wrong factions.

And Anwar, ironically, is trapped in the same political game he once promised to destroy.

He will defend a minister responsible for an international scandal rather than risk losing a few political allies.

In short:

Malaysia’s dignity is negotiable. But Anwar’s political survival is not.

Malaysia Wanted Accountability. Instead, It Got a Government Saving Its Own Skin.

Let’s list what Malaysians have witnessed:

• A Home Minister approving controversial citizenship.

• A sports association caught using them.

• FIFA humiliating Malaysia in front of the world.

• A Cabinet that behaves like accountability is a Western concept.

• A Prime Minister who chooses silence over standards.

This isn’t leadership. This is cowardice dressed in batik. 

A Simple Truth: Someone Must Fall.

FIFA has already rejected Malaysia’s explanations.

The international community is watching.

Malaysians are furious.

And the longer Saifuddin remains in office, the clearer the conclusion becomes:

This government will protect its own, even when its own have disgraced the nation.

For Anwar to reclaim even a fraction of credibility, he must do one thing:

Remove Saifuddin. Publicly. Immediately.

Not reshuffle him.

Not reassign him.

Not wait for an internal review.

Not hide behind committees or investigations.

There must be real political consequences.

If Anwar cannot bring himself to act—even now—then Malaysians will remember this scandal not as FAM’s failure, nor Saifuddin’s betrayal, but as Anwar Ibrahim’s moment of cowardice, when he chose power over principle.

And once the people lose faith in a leader’s integrity, the damage lasts not seasons, but generations.

Malaysia is not just a laughingstock in football. It is now a case study in how not to run a country. And unless Anwar grows a spine and removes Saifuddin Nasution from Cabinet, this scandal will become Anwar’s legacy, not Saifuddin’s.

Because the rakyat will remember one thing:

When Malaysia needed a leader, Anwar chose political arithmetic over national integrity.

And that is the kind of stain no press release can wash off.