KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin acknowledges the potential for dissatisfaction among certain figures with his leadership of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) during his six years heading the governing body.
Hamidin, who previously served as FAM’s secretary-general, was appointed in 2018 to replace Regent of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and become the seventh president of FAM.
During this period, amid several changes implemented by Hamidin, such as appointing South Korean coach Kim Pan-gon – who successfully improved the country’s ranking last year and secured qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup after 42 years – the FAM president acknowledges that certain parties may not have favoured some decisions made.
Thus, he believes it may be a factor behind irresponsible parties attempting to tarnish FAM’s reputation by spreading a poison-pen letter at the end of March.
“There may be (enemies), because FAM is a large organisation involving many parties, media, supporters, affiliates, staff, sponsors and many others, and they are all interconnected.
“But you need to know, I am not worried. I manage FAM based on my long experience in football. Perhaps I am not perfect, and some of my decisions are not favoured by certain parties, but we also face various challenges in achieving our goal of elevating the quality of Malaysian football.
“So, it is possible that throughout my tenure in leading FAM, there are parties who are against me,” Hamidin told Scoop during an exclusive interview.
Despite the current turmoil in Malaysian football following the attacks on national players Akhyar Rashid, Faisal Halim and Safiq Rahim, Hamidin firmly states that he will never step down from his position, based on the responsibility to resolve this crisis.
At the same time, Hamidin explains that the governing body is enhancing security measures, not only involving the presence of the national squad, who will face qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup next month, but also involving FAM staff.
It is understood that police are also tightening security at the FAM office compound in Kelana Jaya as a precautionary measure.
“All staff have been informed to be vigilant given the current situation, which is quite serious.
“I have informed Kim Pan-gon, and he is aware of the current situation. In fact, we will also enhance security measures ahead of the central training camp before the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers next month,” he added.
Malaysia will face Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan in their remaining Group D qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup in Bishkek and Bukit Jalil next month. – May 10, 2024