The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has dismissed the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) appeal over the falsification of documents involving seven naturalised players.
The decision delivers a bruising blow to Malaysian football as the sanctions, including fines, suspensions and a points deduction, will now stand in full.
Acting FAM president Datuk Yusoff Mahadi said the association will first obtain the detailed reasoning before deciding its next course of action.
“This is the first time that FAM has faced such a situation, and our lawyers and management are very shocked by the decision,” he said.
“Nevertheless, FAM will continue to stand firm in championing the rights of our players and the interests of Malaysian football at the international stage.”
According to reports by local Malaysian media, the FIFA Appeal Committee rejected the appeals filed by FAM and the players after reviewing their submissions and conducting a hearing.
The committee found no grounds to overturn the earlier ruling by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which determined that FAM had breached Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code concerning forgery and falsification.
The seven players, Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano, have each been fined CHF 2,000 (about SGD 3,226) and banned for 12 months from all football-related activities.
FAM was fined CHF 350,000 (around SGD 564,700), while Malaysia could well have points docked in its ongoing 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign, a move that threatens to derail the team’s momentum on the regional stage.
FAM and the affected players have ten days to request FIFA’s full written grounds and another 21 days thereafter to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The scandal stems from Malaysia’s 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam on June 10, when FIFA determined that falsified documents had been submitted to confirm the eligibility of several players.
The verdict compounds a mounting crisis for Malaysian football, with FAM now facing not just financial and sporting penalties but also serious questions over the governance and oversight of its naturalisation programme.
MAIN PHOTO: MALAYSIA NT