Rob Friend Maintains He’s Harimau Malaya CEO Despite FIFA Calling Him A Consultant

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Amid FIFA's probe into Malaysia's player-naturalisation saga, Rob Friend has pushed back against the body's claim that he is only serving as a consultant to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)

He maintained that he is the CEO of the national team, claiming FIFA's Appeal Committee had misunderstood him during his testimony.

"I am the CEO. My official designation in the hearing was CEO of Malaysian National Team," Scoop quoted Friend as saying.

He said the distinction he made was about the scope of involvement, not the title: performance and long-term sporting strategy fall under him, while administrative work, including documentation, is handled by FAM staff in Malaysia.

"To be clear, I've never denied being CEO."

In October, Friend described his involvement in the case as protecting the players, saying that "some of them bled for Malaysia".

This follows the FIFA Appeal Committee's motivated decision, released this week, which records Friend testifying that he had no executive authority over FAM's administrative staff and worked remotely from Canada, travelling to Malaysia only for match days

According to the documents, he was brought in after disciplinary proceedings had begun, giving him a claim of total ignorance over the forged player documents that triggered the naturalisation scandal.

So what does the FIFA document say about his role?

In paragraph 79, page 22, the committee records Friend's own testimony. According to FIFA, he told the panel that:

• He works in a consultant role for FAM
• He is based in Canada and travels to Malaysia only for match days
• His mandate is limited to helping with the heritage search project, mainly around coaching and technical staff

The same paragraph notes his claim that he had no involvement in the naturalisation process and was not aware of any wrongdoing until the disciplinary case began on 22 August 2025.

In the document, FIFA summarised Friend this way:

"…he works in a consultant role to FAM, based in Canada and travelling to Malaysia for match days… [his role] was to help with that project, mainly in the areas of improvements for coaching and technical staff… all the processes regarding naturalisation of players were managed by FAM in Malaysia directly…"

The document also highlights a moment when Friend pushed for an external investigation. He recommended hiring Deloitte Sports to conduct an independent review to add credibility, but the FAM Board rejected the suggestion and went with its own approach.

FIFA's disclosure has surprised Malaysian football fans

For the record, FAM appointed Friend as CEO of Harimau Malaya in January 2025.