FAM owes MVR 8 million to HDC, football school land repossessed

Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has repossessed the land allocated to Football Association of Maldives (FAM) to develop a football school, after the association failed to pay rent for the plot which has now accumulated to MVR eight million.

FAM initially acquired the land to develop a dedicated football school with boarding options. At the time, the association even built an accommodation building on the plot and signed an agreement with former Real Madrid's defender Míchel Salgado in 2021 to run the facility under the name "National Football School". However, with no further activities related to football taking place there, some of the land was later leased to businesses.

Ahmed Zuhoor, the Chairperson of the normalisation committee, which was tasked by FIFA to put the association in order following the massive fraud led by former FAM President Bassam Adeel Jaleel in the past few years, told a media briefing today that HDC informed the committee of the land being repossessed.

Sharing the contents of the letter sent by HDC addressed to Bassam, Zuhoor detailed that FAM owes HDC 8 million in rent for the plot.

"The letter states that the land has been repossessed from FAM," Zuhoor said while speaking at the press conference held at the VIP room of the National Football Stadium.

"[It] was a land that was handed over to us [FAM] to develop an academy. [HDC] repossessed the land because the previous management of FAM did not prioritise and pay rent for it."

Zuhoor, who previously also served as the Chairperson of HDC, said that documents also confirm that FAM has to pay MVR eight million to HDC.

"However, MVR eight million is not an amount we can pay at the moment," Zuhoor added.

He went onto say that after HDC's repossession, they are in discussions with the government to try and get the land back to FAM.

He also revealed that although an appointment has been requested from HDC to meet with the corporation's management, it is yet to be arranged.

Under Bassam's leadership, the FAM went into significant debt, owing large sums to many people, with rulings issued against FAM ordering the association to pay back what is owed. However, the association's bank accounts have been completely depleted, it was also revealed today.