Once hailed as a young reformer of Maldivian football, former Football Association of Maldives president Bassam Adeel Jaleel is now serving prison sentences for embezzlement and money laundering and has been banned from football for life by FIFA.

A hopeful beginning

Bassam first emerged as a player for Club Valencia, a Maldivian football club. However, he had few opportunities in the team, which was run by his father, Adeel Jaleel, and packed with star players at the time. He later went abroad to study and, upon returning, became involved in Valencia's management.

In December 2014, Bassam took over as general secretary of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), the country's governing body for football. At the time, Maldivian football administration desperately needed fresh, youthful leadership. Bassam was seen as a spark of hope. Looking back over the past 12 years, however, he is now seen as the man who extinguished that spark and plunged Maldivian football into darkness.

During his tenure, FAM regressed. Football activities ground to a halt, while financial embezzlement appeared to know no bounds. On Friday, FIFA, football's global governing body, banned him for life from all football-related activities. Because of him, an ugly stain has now been left on Maldivian football.

A politically charged rise

After Mohamed Shaweed, who chaired the Normalisation Committee, stepped down, Bassam took over as FAM chairman in early 2016. When Shaweed prepared to contest that year's FAM presidential election, Bassam supported him. Shaweed later withdrew and gave Ahmed Thoriq the opportunity to run. Thoriq won the election and appointed Bassam as general secretary.

Not long afterwards, however, Thoriq dismissed Bassam. Five members of the Executive Committee (ExCo), FAM's main decision-making body, then resigned, saying they had done so in defence of Bassam. Their resignations led to the dissolution of the committee. FIFA later ruled that Bassam's dismissal had violated FAM's statutes, reinstated him and entrusted him with organising an election.

Bassam decided to contest that election. Given the Maldives' political landscape, a candidate with political influence was more likely to win. Thoriq was a member of parliament and a close associate of then-President of the Maldives Abdulla Yameen, while Bassam is a relative of Yameen. One of the means Bassam used to gain Yameen's favour was to include politically influential members of parliament in his ExCo. The strategy proved successful: on November 20, 2016, Bassam defeated Thoriq by 14 votes to 11 to become FAM president.

Success followed by controversy

Bassam's tenure brought several notable achievements. The men's national team won the 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup, South Asia's leading international football tournament, while the women's national team secured a historic bronze medal at the South Asian Games. The U-18 men's national team also won bronze at the Junior SAFF Championship. With government assistance, financial support was provided to clubs through state-owned enterprises. Opportunities for junior and youth national teams increased, and the standard of tournaments held across the country's island atolls improved.

Over time, however, FAM faced growing disapproval from clubs and the public. The reasons included its failure to hold certain tournaments, poor calendar planning, declining excitement around club football, Maldivian clubs missing opportunities to compete in the AFC Cup—an Asian club competition—and FAM's role in denying Ali Ashfaq (Dhagandey) a place on the national team. FAM was also criticised for allocating space to establish an office for then-First Lady Madam Fathimath Ibrahim.

At the time, FAM general secretary Hussain Javaz said no part of the building had been provided to operate a political office. He said certain spaces had been rented to a private company and that the company's decision to lease the space to another party had nothing to do with FAM.

During the early days of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration, Sports Minister Ahmed Mahloof began efforts to investigate the lost AFC Cup opportunity. Unhappy with this, FAM brought the matter to the attention of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body for football in Asia. The AFC responded that no third party would be allowed to interfere in FAM affairs and that it was monitoring the situation closely.

Some clubs subsequently began preparing to submit a no-confidence motion against Bassam and the ExCo members. Mahloof was the first to signal that clubs were working to convene an Extraordinary Congress—a special meeting of FAM's members—to remove Bassam from the presidency, accusing him of conducting political activities within FAM and violating its statutes. FAM, in turn, accused Mahloof of trying to change its leadership by threatening to withhold state financial assistance.

The day after Mahloof revealed the effort initiated by Maldivian club New Radiant, FAM suspended the club, citing its failure to pay players' salaries. New Radiant alleged that the suspension was intended to stop it from pursuing the no-confidence motion.

Following New Radiant's suspension, another Maldivian club, Victory, took over the effort. However, FIFA determined that the number of signatures submitted by Victory was legally insufficient, preventing the motion from proceeding. Mahloof later reconciled with FAM. He said the attempt to oust Bassam had ended and that Bassam had successfully defended his position.

FAM then formed a national team committee that included Mahloof and Tourism Minister Ali Waheed, and the parties began working together. During that period, Ali Waheed was at the forefront of football affairs. However, after the committee was abruptly dissolved, he once again faded into the background. Mahloof, meanwhile, continued to maintain close ties with FAM.

In February 2020, FAM abruptly announced that an election would be held nine months ahead of schedule. Initially set for March 20, the election was postponed because of COVID-19 and rescheduled for July 2. By then, former FAM president Ali Azim had led an effort in the People's Majlis, the Maldives' parliament, to halt the election.

Bassam nevertheless proceeded. With no other candidate coming forward, he was elected without a vote. At the congress held that same day, members unanimously passed an amendment allowing a sole candidate to be elected without a vote if no club objected. On September 3, Commissioner of Sports Ahmed Saleem accepted the election result.

There were signs that matters might improve during Bassam's second term. As part of a football development project, FAM signed an agreement with the Football Education Club of Real Madrid legend Michel Salgado. The government, FAM and South Korea's Sky Wind Global company also announced plans to lay turf pitches on 16 islands. In 2021, the Maldives successfully hosted the SAFF Championship in Male', the capital, amid widespread enthusiasm.

Yet the tournament raised new questions. The exact number of tickets sold for Galolhu Stadium in Male' was unclear, and attendance exceeded the stadium's capacity. Bassam and FAM consequently faced allegations of corruption in ticket sales.

A deepening financial crisis

Another controversy arose over the MVR 1.2 million, that prominent businessman Champa Mohamed Moosa (Uchu) had promised to the national football team but which was not paid to the players. Meanwhile, FAM employees went without salaries and Ramadan allowances. The association owed money to numerous local and foreign companies and had not even paid its electricity bills.

As the Maldives' presidential election approached, the government turned its attention to resolving the situation. Through the direct intervention of President Solih's envoys, New Radiant and Victory were rescued in an effort to secure the support of the clubs' fans. Bassam also met President Solih and afterwards said the President had assured him that he would do "good things" for football.

Investigations and downfall

But by then, things had gone too far for Bassam to be saved. Some institutions related to his cases had alerted the police. Accordingly, information obtained by the police investigation confirmed to "Mihaaru" that funds and financial aid provided to the FAM by FIFA and various external parties were, upon deposit into the account, transferred to the accounts of certain officials of the institution and some companies connected to them.

In that matter, the police sought assistance from the then Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem. Using the powers vested in him by the Constitution, he ordered the police to investigate the case. Consequently, in October 2023, the police raided the FAM office. That was when Bassam found himself completely cornered.

However, a short while later, Bassam traveled to Paris, France, and met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. In this meeting, Bassam asked Infantino to provide protection for his leadership. That assurance was also given by Infantino. But this time, Maldivian institutions were not in a mood to grant him leniency. No political protection was secured this time either. The biggest reason for this was the PG's order. By then, the police had also withheld his passport. On the other hand, led by Tom, clubs were preparing to submit a motion of no confidence against Bassam.

Before that effort could succeed, FAM announced in January 2024 that it would hold an election. Rather than contesting it himself, Bassam attempted to retain control by fielding a proxy. However, just as Thoriq was widely expected to win, FIFA halted the election because of incomplete administrative procedures. At the time, this was widely seen as FIFA protecting Bassam.

In reality, however, FIFA was also dissatisfied with Bassam. He had misappropriated funds FIFA provided to support clubs during COVID-19, as well as funds allocated for employees' salaries, leaving FIFA with no other choice. It suspended Bassam and placed FAM under a normalisation committee tasked with drafting new statutes and holding an election. Thoriq won that election last year.

Meanwhile, Bassam's trials continued in the Maldivian courts. Last year, the Criminal Court sentenced him to 23 years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzlement and money laundering. He subsequently received an additional eight-year sentence, and preparations are under way to prosecute him in other cases.

As a result of these corrupt acts, FAM's debt has grown to an irrecoverable level. Football activities have stalled, public enthusiasm has faded and the sport has regressed by many years. Recovering from the damage inflicted by Bassam will take a very long time.

Even so, FIFA's lifetime ban is a breath of fresh air for Maldivian football—and a sign that justice has been served.