Football in Malaysia is governed and overseen by the FAM (Football Association of Malaysia). This body is responsible mainly for the management of the national football team as well as any football related tournaments in around the country as well as abroad. The FAM is basically the voice of the footballing industry of Malaysia representing the players and the associations as well as in the Asian Football Confederations (AFC) as the Malaysian voice in soccer among the countries in Asia.

Tournaments in around Malaysia and those that the Malaysian football team are involved in are usually sanctioned by the FAM with which it will be recognized. The FAM is an agency established to help improve and upkeep the status of football in Malaysia as well as to ensure that guidelines are adhered throughout the country in terms of game play as well as any regulations involved. As football is the top sport in Malaysia, the FAM is important to ensure that all the guidelines, changes in game rules and such are formally imposed and adopted by teams playing and competing in leagues and competitions from the school levels, district all the way to the national levels respectively.
How it all began?

Football, the game created by the British was one of the major imports during the colonial years. They bring with them the game which grew in popularity pretty quickly. Before long, football became the most played and most watched sport in the country (then known as Malaya). The Selangor Amateur Football League was one of the earliest form of competition in the country when it first started in 1905 which was catered mainly for clubs in around Kuala Lumpur which was part of Selangor at that time. But back then, rules were still pretty loose and it was not structured although there were already clubs promoting the sport. The league was one of the earliest attempts to make sure that the game takes shape through proper administration and system.

The Malaya Cup was first established in 1921, thereby making it the oldest football competition in Malaysia. It would later be changed to call the Malaysia Cup 41 years later, 6 years after the country gained independence where the name Malaysia was used. The Malaya Cup was established as a national tournament which involves all the different states of Malaya then. Being a national level tournament, it is the highest and most prestigious trophy in Malaysian football, a nametag it bears until present day.

The Selangor Amateur Football League was formalized back in 1926 and became the springbed for the establishment of the Football Association of Selangor (FAS) 10 years later. The Selangor Football Association, together with the Football Association of Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Singapore Amateur Football Association will eventually head on to form the MFA (Malayan Football Association). The intention was to field a national team to play against their Australian counterparts who were playing an invitational in Singapore.

The FAM was only officially used in 1933 when it took over its original MFA name. Back then, it was based solely in Singapore because it was then part of the country. FAM was sanctioned fully to undertake running of the Malaya Cup tournament which was held yearly. This tournament would eventually grow to become one of the highlights of the year where people come together for one common goal, for the bragging rights of the Malayan champion in football. Sir Andrew Caldecott was the first president to lead the FAM with which was succeeded by MB Shelley, Dr JS Webster, SD Scott, R Williamson and Adrian Clark all took over up until 1940 when the World War II disrupted the running of the association as well as the tournament. That same year, FAM changed its base to Malaya.

After the war, J King, H Byson and Dr C Rawson would take over the presidency after the World War before Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first local will then lead the association in 1951. Tunku will also continue to become the first Prime Minister of the country.  Tunku Abdul Rahman was an avid lover of the game which increase his personal effort to help improve the status of football of Malaya. After Tunku took over, he would increase the portfolio of the FAM to playing a bigger role instead of just running the Malaya Cup. The FAM would now be involved in planning and strategizing for the future of Malaysian football.

In 1954, the FAM was inducted into the Asian Football Confederation, where it is one of the 14 founding members. 2 years later, the FAM became an official member of the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) which is the international governing football association.
The National Team gets a ‘home ground’

The Tunku would also architect the move for the building of a national stadium to be used as the home ground for the national team thereby resulting in the construction of the Merdeka Stadium (which means Independence Stadium). The ground will also be eventually be historically used where the shouts of ‘Merdeka’ was blared throughout the nation when Malaya gained its independence in 1957. This ground would also become the center where the Merdeka Tournament (Pestabola Merdeka) would be held. The tournament was intended to symbolize the celebratory occasion of the country’s independence from the British and hence would spin off to other similar tournaments by neighbouring countries. In Jakarata, there was the Jakarta Anniversary Tournament, South Korea had their President’s Cup and Thailand, the King’s Cup. The first Pestabola Tournament was won by Hong Kong, which was then considered a premier football tournament in the region. After that, Malaya would win the next 2 consecutive editions before sharing it with South Korea three years later.

The national team continued to make progress which included qualifying for the Olympics in 1972 as well as the 1980. Such a progress was made possible through the youth development programs installed by the Prime Minister then Tunku Abdul Rahman. His successor, Tun Abdul Razak took over in 1974 but only led for 1 year before his demise. In 1976, Tan Sri Datuk Seri Setia Raja Hamzah Abu Samah took over the presidency of FAM who also held the portfolio of Minister of Trade and Industry.

He would eventually be elected as the president of the AFC where he also ensure that development of football in the country would prosper throughout the years from 1976 to 1984. His Royal Highness the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah when he ensured that the FAM would be more professional and modernized. It was during his time in office that the widely famous semi-pro league was introduced in 1989. The semi-pro league is widely regarded by Malaysians to be one of the high points of Malaysian football when stadiums were jam packed with fans and supporters, bus loads of people from various states following their teams on away games, a scenario badly missing in today’s local football.

The league would eventually go professional where imports are no longer used and this has had an adverse effect on the persona of Malaysian football and with various restructuring of the league numerous times, the FAM has been under constant criticism for the failure to raise the profile of the game.

His Royal Highness the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah is still the president of the FAM with Dato’ Redzuan Tan Sri Sheikh Ahmad and Khairy Jamaluddin holding the two  deputy president posts. Khairy is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and is the Umno Youth Chief as well. Some of the criticism that has come up recently included the fact that politicians and sports should not be mixed. This has not helped the fact that the public is dissatisfied with the way the game is moving forward. The Malaysian football team is currently ranked 159 in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.