On the evening of January 26, on the official homepage, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) just confirmed that the International Court of Arbitration (CAS) has approved the request to postpone the execution of the sentence for 7 naturalized players of the Malaysian national team. This decision allows the players to continue playing while waiting for the final conclusion from the CAS.
According to an announcement posted on the FAM homepage, CAS has agreed to the "Stay of Execution" petition sent by players Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. These are players who were previously banned by FIFA from participating in all football activities for a period of 12 months.
The fact that the CAS approved the postponement of the judgment does not mean that the players are acquitted. This decision is only temporary, aimed at maintaining the status quo during the time the CAS considers the appeal content of the parties involved. When there is no final ruling, FIFA's penalty has not been enforced.
During this period, the 7 players mentioned above are still eligible to play for the club as well as the Malaysian national team. This helps the FAM temporarily avoid the risk of force shortage, especially in the context that the Malaysian team is under a lot of pressure after the incident related to player naturalization dossiers.
Previously, FIFA applied strict penalties to the FAM, including fines and bans from playing for naturalized players after concluding that there were violations in the registration and match-fixing process. The incident puts Malaysian football at risk of deeper sanctions from both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The new decision from the CAS helps FAM have more time to pursue the legal process, but does not change the nature of the case. The final result still depends on the official ruling of the CAS in the near future. If the appeal is not accepted, FIFA's penalty will be restored and fully applied.
Currently, FAM has not announced a specific deadline for the final ruling of the CAS.
