FAM debt to cross over MVR 85m, normalisation committee says

A Normalisation Committee for Football Association of Maldives (FIFA), which FIFA has set aside, said on Wednesday that the debt amount is more than MVR 85 million.

FIFA decided on July 23 to handover FMA to the Normalisation Committee and appointed members to the committee on August 19. The committee held a press conference for the first time on Wednesday to discuss the progress of the works.

FAM Normalization Committee Chairman, Ahmed Zuhoor said, “The FAM stakeholders have to stand up with the cooperation in order to bring everything back to normal. We have to start with minus. There is no way to do any expenses even if we look at it at the moment. There was no money in any account when we took over."

At a press conference at the VIP room of the stadium, committee chairman Ahmed Zuhoor said the FAM's situation is still not fully identified as the agencies have seized some documents in connection with the investigation conducted by the agencies. However, the documents so far show that the debt of MVR 30-35 million would be in place.

“Even if the factual document is not sure, the debt is expected to reach more than MVR 85 million," he said.

The debt of the MVR 85 million includes the amount owed to the state and the utility companies, he said. 

Zuhoor also noted that the money and other salaries owed to others were also taken at high prices as technical directors.

"Whether this is in debt, our hope is to talk to all the helpers and work to raise funds and to get the money they need and to formulate the structure and get the work to be done with the hard work of getting the work they need to do," he added.

“The FAM’s governance has failed. The FAM administrative structure has failed. The FAM’s international best practice transactions have not been conducted. There is no rule for financially. And the lack of SOP’s and the rules and regulations that need to be made. We are seeing these rules and regulations not being followed."

According to Zuhoor:

While working with these challenges, Zuhoor noted the cooperation of the government. With that assistance, he noted that the work of setting up an interim setup for the stadium has started to establish an administrative matter.

Zuhoor has asked for the cooperation of all stakeholders to overcome the current situation.

FIFA has highlighted  six main responsibilities to the committee for one year. Among them are:

Zuhoor said the hope is to hold the election before the date given by FIFA. However, he did not give a specific date.

"This is the biggest challenge in my life so far. There is no doubt about it,"  Zuhoor said.

Zuhoor, who had previously served as the Youth Minister as well as the Health Minister, said the issue was now “not just a governance or administrative expertise."

“We have to face this in this regard, the legal, legal, administrative, policy, and so on all the means of running an organisation that is not going to be called, all means have failed here,” he said, responding to the question.

The second part of that question is how much things have been messed up so far. 

Zuhoor replied, "FAM's governance has failed. The FAM's administrative structure has failed. The FAM's administrative structure has not been conducted in accordance with international best practice. There is no rule that has been established still in the presence of the script. It is visible that it has not been acted upon."

“This was not a place that failed in one or two days. This is a long-time failure. The failure has increased and the FAM has disappeared and today it is inherently administratively, at the policy level and at the governors level.”