FAM general secretary Datuk Seri Ibrahim Saad and council members Khairy Jamaluddin and Datuk Abdullah Hishan Hashim quit their positions on Monday, a day after deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah stepped down.

The resignations have been linked with the poor performance of the national team at the Asian Cup, a tournament from which the co-hosts have already been eliminated following heavy defeats against China (5-1) and Uzbekistan (5-0).

The results have led to a huge outcry in the Malaysian media with the New Straits Times printing a black back cover on Tuesday with the words 'Malaysian Football R.I.P'.

However, Sultan Ahmad Shah has refused to heed the calls for him to step down and vowed to remain in the position he has occupied since 1984.

"Why should we resign? I am going to fight this battle and raise Malaysian football again," he told reporters.

"We are forming a task force whose responsibility will be to discuss the Asian Cup and what needs to be done to revive Malaysian football."

The Sultan laid the blame squarely on the national team players.

"I have brought millions into FAM and we have spent on the national team and coaches but the players played us out," he said.

"I am devastated to see the results of the Asian Cup. They are damaging and I cannot take it.

"Nevertheless there is going too be a general overhaul in the structure and the system."

Coach Norizan refused to get drawn into the discussion during a press conference on Tuesday for Malaysia's final Group C match against Iran, and pledged his commitment to the national team.

"As national coach, there have been ups and downs but I have to be with the team. It's part of my responsibility and I cannot run away from it," he said.

"After all the criticism and humiliation so far, even the best psychologists cannot solve our problems.

"But this is part and parcel of football and maybe what had happened here will serve to improve Malaysian football in the future.

"I have told the players that what has happened can only make us stronger."