KUALA LUMPUR: The FA of Malaysia (FAM) have rubbished claims that they had not given England-based Jaami Qureshi, an Iraqi-Malaysian, a chance to play for Harimau Malaya.
The national body revealed that Jaami's father wanted his son to be granted citizenship without having to go through the processes of technical evaluation.
Jaami currently plays for the youth team of English Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
FAM were in contact with his father, Perviz, and Brighton academy manager John Morling in June 2020.
The national body were hoping to call up Jaami, who will turn 18 next month, then to join a training camp ahead of the AFC Under-19 Championships, which was later cancelled.
However, on July 10 2020, Perviz said he was reluctant to have Jaami travel to KL due to the long Covid-19 quarantine period in Malaysia.
He then suggested to FAM to start the citizenship application.
Perviz was also not keen to allow FAM to send their technical staff to assess Jaami's capabilities.
"FAM will not compromise when it comes to rules, guidelines and laws concerning the Covid-19 quarantine and citizenship of any individual," said FAM secretary-general Saifuddin Abu Bakar in a statement.
He said that on July 14 2020, FAM had replied to Perviz, touching on three important factors that must be complied.
Firstly, Jaami must be present physically to fulfil the process of applying for citizenship.
Secondly, Jaami was required to give his commitment to choosing Malaysia and not England should both qualify for the 2021 Under-20 World Cup and, thirdly, Jaami must undergo a selection trial from the technical aspect.
However, on July 24 2020, national Under-19 coach Brad Maloney dropped Jaami from the squad after both parties failed to reach an agreement on the three criteria.
"It is untrue that FAM did not take any action. The previous secretary-general took the initiative to contact Jaami's family in 2020 but, due to several factors, efforts to get the centre-back a Malaysian citizenship did not materialise.
"Now that Jaami has chosen Iraqi citizenship, we wish him all the best," Saifuddin added.
