Thursday, August 11, 2016

FIFA Take Away 2017 Congress From Malaysia

Malaysia has been stripped of hosting the FIFA Congress scheduled for May next year.

The decision of withdrawing the offer to host the Congress was  communicated to the Football Association of Malaysia earlier this week.

A source from FIFA confirmed the withdrawal of the offer to host the Congress and are on the search for a new host.

It is learnt that the decision to withdraw the hosting right was due to the fact that Malaysia could not guarantee visas for certain countries that are affiliated of FIFA but are not allowed into the country.

Malaysia had made a bid to host the FIFA Congress in October 2013 and were awarded the hosting job in December the same year.

The decision to withdraw the hosting offer will surely be a bitter blow for  the outgoing FAM President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah who is also a FIFA executive council member as he had fought hard for Malaysia to host the meeting.

There is no doubt that hosting the FIFA Congress would have put Malaysia on the world map for the right reasons.

FAM Secretary General Dato Hamidin Mohd Amin could not be reached for comment.