00:00It's very important to set the record straight right now and add clarity in terms of what is his role.
00:07Because I've seen some things in the media, I've seen some things being thrown at him that are absolutely unnecessary.
00:14It's borderline ridiculous.
00:16But really his role as a visionary and what he's brought to this national team,
00:20he's been able to convince the government to add additional funding.
00:23So that funding goes towards the national team in terms of professionalism.
00:26Bringing a world-class staff like Peter Klamoski, like Dr. Craig Duncan,
00:31one of the best science sports performance doctors in the world, myself, Stanley Bernard.
00:38This is a world-class staff we have in the national team.
00:41And the professionalism that we bring comes from the vision of TMJ.
00:46And that's it.
00:47He's not operational, right?
00:49He's not getting in the weeds.
00:51He's our visionary.
00:52And that's it.
00:53And he sets the vision of the national team.
00:55He holds the national team accountable.
00:57He sets the motivation.
01:00These players want to play for him.
01:01We want to work for him.
01:02We want to represent this country.
01:04And he's a proud visionary of this project.
01:08And that's it.
01:09So when I see stuff being thrown at him, in terms of getting involved in this,
01:14it's, like I said, it's borderline ridiculous that anyone would think
01:19that he's getting down into the weeds of the operation,
01:22in terms of documentation, in terms of registration.
01:25So I think it's important to set that part clear.
01:28So with regards to the national team, and as I've sort of defined what we are,
01:35I think it's important to really discuss or paint the picture of what our role was
01:41in the naturalization, because it's obviously been a big topic.
01:44And we're sitting here because of the sanctions that have been set by FIFA.
01:49So with the national team, obviously, as I explained, we're strategy, performance,
01:54we're technical.
01:55We're not getting involved in the documentation.
01:58But what I would say, and full transparency, how we are involved,
02:03I'd say sort of two main areas.
02:07The first one would be discussion with FAM throughout the upcoming camps.
02:13We'd get a brief, we'd get an update on potential players that are going to be naturalized.
02:18Of course, Peter, myself, we'd understand, okay, this is the player pool
02:22that FAM is working on with the government in terms of documentation,
02:27in terms of registration.
02:29Until then, we had no involvement in that, obviously.
02:32We're not involved in any documentation registration.
02:35But we were ready and available when these players would be accepted by FIFA.
02:40And then once the documentation registration was finished,
02:47FIFA would issue a document that approved the players to play for the national team.
02:52We as a national team would receive that document,
02:55and then we would activate that player in the player selection.
02:57So we'd sit down with Peter, we'd discuss those newly naturalized players
03:01as part of our upcoming games.
03:03Until then, as you can imagine, there was no planning around those players
03:06because it's very difficult to plan without the official confirmation they're able to play.
03:13So that's really the national team's role in this naturalization.
03:19I think it's important to clarify.
03:21I'd also like to clarify my role in this process.
03:27Obviously, on August 22nd, FIFA submitted the case and the investigation to FAM and the players.
03:38So myself, the CEO of the national team, this immediately affected the national team,
03:42which I immediately became involved in this case,
03:46which meant I knew we had to protect the players.
03:50They're our players.
03:51They've played for this country.
03:53They represent this country.
03:54They're Malaysian.
03:56And my responsibility is to protect our players,
04:00protect the integrity of the national team.
04:02So on August 22nd, I immediately became involved and got brought into this case,
04:09which meant we had to bring a world-class legal team.
04:13Like I said, it's protecting the players, protecting the integrity of football,
04:16integrity of the national team.
04:18So myself got involved.
04:20I flew to Zurich.
04:22I met with some of the best lawyers in the world.
04:24And we have one sitting here because it's important that everything is clearly documented,
04:33investigated, and understand, you know, how we can fight this
04:37and fight for the players and fight for the national team.
04:41So I've been to Zurich.
04:44I've been to Miami visiting FIFA.
04:47That's where their legal office is.
04:49Working with FIFA, because I think in good faith,
04:52we have to understand what happened.
04:55And by being transparent with FIFA and understanding the process,
04:59what went wrong, what happened, sort of investigating with them,
05:03myself have been involved and have been multiple times in Miami meeting with FIFA
05:07and showing good faith that we're willing to understand what happened
05:12and then obviously ensure that this never happens again.
05:18So on that, look, at the end of the day, I'm proud of this national team.
05:23I'm proud of what Peter and the players have done so far,
05:26especially in the last couple of months with this dark cloud hanging over us.
05:32I'm proud of the last couple of games, 5-1 against Laos.
05:35It's inspirational.
05:36And, you know, these players, the staff, you know, staying focused and continuing to do the job
05:43and represent this country.
05:44And what they're doing is I can't be more proud.
05:48And we're going to fight.
05:49We're going to fight for our players.
05:51We're going to fight for the national team, for this country.
05:53And, you know, that's why we have some of the best lawyers next to us.
05:58And other than that, I will hand it over to Serge to break down the legal appeal process
06:06and overall the legal strategy.
06:11No.
