The FA of Malaysia (FAM) has decided to bring forward its executive committee elections from 2018 to 2017, in the wake of its president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah's decision to vacate his post from the national body.
It means that Tengku Abdullah, who had stated his intentions last year to quit in stages following the national team's disastrous showing in the 2018 AFC World Cup qualifiers, will stay on, for now, as president.
His tenure will continue until a new date is set for the 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) when fresh elections will be held to appoint FAM's new leaders.
FAM had also refuted claims that it was denied hosting rights for the 2017 FIFA Congress, saying that the decision was made to withdraw from the event after advice from Malaysian authorities.
"Due to security reasons, we were advised by the government to pull out of hosting the FIFA Congress. We had sent FIFA a letter of our request on July 25, and they accepted the decision on Aug. 9. This has nothing to do with internal issues within the organisation," said FAM deputy president Affandi Hamzah during the body's executive committee meeting on Monday.
He added that the decision for the executive committee to bring forward FAM's elections was a collective one.
"We understand our president's intentions on leaving, and we respect that. Which is why we have collectively decided to bring forward the elections and leave the future of Malaysian football to our affiliates."
Affiliates of FAM consist of the 14 state associations in the country, plus Armed Forces FA, PDRM FA, the FA of Malays Malaysian, FA of Chinese Malaysian, Malaysian Indian Sports Council and Football Coaches Association of Malaysia.
The football guardians are penciled to hold the 2016 AGM on Sep. 15 before they concur on a date for the new elections.
"We have to follow the due process as per the FAM statuette. We will continue with our duties until then, including preparing the team for the AFF Cup in November," said Affandi.
The current football governors had been pressured to resign in recent weeks by the Crown Prince of Johor, also known as TMJ.
The Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) owner had said that high ranking officials in the FAM setup, including the president, had agreed to vacate their positions, with Malaysian football poised for new leaders.