KUALA LUMPUR: FAM has rubbished the recent claims that the national body is again looking for foreign footballers to "naturalise".
At last month's Asian Cup in Doha, more than half of Malaysia's first team are naturalised players (foreign-born players given Malaysian citizenship).
FAM president Datuk Hamidin Amin said certain media outlets and bloggers had linked FAM to their narrative without basis.
"There are certain media or bloggers that said FAM is doing this (getting naturalised players)."
Hamidin said these reports made FAM look like it was the one looking to naturalise players.
"My officials confirmed that these players don't even have ties (heritage qualification) to Malaysia, and the talk is all fake.
"I have stressed to our coaches that we need to unearth local talent at all national teams level," said Hamidin.
Last week, there were claims of Manchester United's Under-18 player Ethan Wheatly and Arsenal's Under-21 player Jimi Gower having ties to Malaysia through their grandmother and mother respectively.
