Football Association of Maldives (FAM) has accused Minister of Youth, Sports & Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof of attempting to change its leadership.

In a statement on Twitter, FAM accused minister Mahloof of being underhanded by attempting to change their elected leaders.

FAM also claimed that Mahloof has met with football clubs and threatened to cut off their company funding.

In response, Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim, the former head of FAM, accused the association of carrying out political activities instead of expanding football in the country.

In an earlier statement, FAM revealed that the government will be funding football clubs in 2019 and that the association will be responsible from 2020 onwards.

FAM stated that, in a meeting with association head Bassam Adeel Jaleel, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said that just like previous years, his government will be holding discussions with state companies to provide funding for the football clubs.

In the statement, FAM said that the association will be providing the funding without dependency on other companies from 2020 onwards.