The latest consequential voice belongs to Alex Soosay, the former general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and administrator at national level, player and coach.
Soosay’s support follows the public appeal by celebrated midfielder and coach Lim Teong Kim this month, and adds institutional authority to a campaign rooted in reform, not sentiment.
Having spent more than two decades inside the AFC and Fifa ecosystem, Soosay has seen how credibility is earned, and how quickly it can be lost.
“FAM has lost stature and credibility,” Soosay said. “At this moment, Al-Sultan Abdullah is the ultimate choice to spearhead its recovery.”
His endorsement is not casual. Soosay worked closely with the sultan during his tenure as AFC vice-president and chairman of several major committees, including the technical committee, the Asian Cup higher organising committee and the Fifa Youth World Cup Malaysia 1997.
“This is a leader who understands the game at every level,” Soosay said. “Player, administrator, global decision-maker. He knows how football works and how it must be governed.”
The call comes as FAM remains under intense scrutiny following the naturalisation scandal involving seven players, where falsified documents led to Fifa sanctions, fines and overturned results.
A Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing is scheduled for Feb 26, a date that could shape the association’s immediate future and international standing.
For Soosay, the crisis has exposed systemic failure and demands decisive leadership.
“This cannot be fixed with temporary solutions,” he said. “You need credibility at the top to restore trust below it.”
He pointed to Al-Sultan Abdullah’s role in introducing professional football in Malaysia in 1989, his early leadership in the formation and growth of the Asean Football Federation, and his work on the Fifa council, where he initiated the Fifa schools football programme that continues today.
“So much of what we now take for granted in Malaysian football began with him,” Soosay said. “Professional pathways, youth structures and international alignment.”
Beyond credentials, Soosay stressed temperament.
“He is quiet. He is humble. He listens,” he said. “That is why people respect him. And respect is what Malaysian football needs right now.”
Soosay believes the sultan has the vision to reset the professional pathway, rebuild grassroots and youth development, restructure the league as a viable business, and modernise coaching and refereeing systems.
“This is about putting the right foundations back in place,” he said. “If Al-Sultan Abdullah assumes the presidency, he can lift the image and respect of Malaysian football again.”
Al-Sultan Abdullah has not responded publicly to the growing calls but that silence is unsurprising.
Such a decision carries institutional, constitutional and moral weight, particularly with legal proceedings still underway.
Yet the momentum is unmistakable. What began as Teong Kim’s call has evolved into a collective appeal from those who have shaped the game from the inside.
And the message to others in Malaysian football is clear: if credibility is the goal, now is the time to speak.