Coach Sobah Mohamed Ibrahim, who participated in last year’s AFC A License coaching course in Maldives, has said that delays in issuing licenses are due to Football Association of Maldives (FAM) failing to meet key requirements.

The course, conducted by former FAM technical director Paul Thomas Smalley, has yet to receive approval from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Sobah said AFC would grant permission only once FAM complies with the standards set out in the AFC Coaching Convention.

“The A licence is issued under the coaching convention. There should be a head of coach education, and other necessary committees must be in place,” he said in a message to the reform group "Save FAM".

He said that the convention had not been fully implemented in Maldives.

FAM is currently under FIFA normalization following what Sobah described as an institutional collapse. The association’s former President, Bassam Adeel Jaleel, allegedly failed to establish even the most basic committees after his term ended.

Sobah said that the situation would improve following the upcoming FAM elections.

“These A licence issues are also expected to be resolved after the elections,” he said.