The Football Association of Maldives (FAM)'s non-repayment of dues from the 2021 SAFF Championship held in Maldives has been raised at the most recent SAFF Congress.

The issue of the non-repayment was highlighted as a major issue as FAM is yet to make payments despite multiple requests. The non-repayment includes the prize money for the champion India, participation fees for teams as well as SAFF's ownership fees.

Despite repeated requests and attempts to collect the dues, FAM has not fulfilled its financial obligations, leading to the escalation of the issue by SAFF to get Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to hopefully resolve the matter.

Bassam, who attended the conference online due to his passport being withheld for a criminal investigation, said that Maldives would pay the dues within 2-3 months after FAM elections.

While some regional newspapers have said Bassam's words can no longer be trusted, other countries have also decided to involve AFC in the matter to recover unpaid dues.

The existing FAM's Expo term will end on 2 July but no steady arrangements have been made for the upcoming elections with allegations against Bassam for interfering in the elections.

A team comprising FIFA and AFC officials recently arrived in Maldives to investigate the allegations and FAM is awaiting their response.