Recent statements by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Secretary General Windsor Paul John related to the Malaysian naturalized player scandal are causing controversy.
Accordingly, in a program on Astro Arena channel, Mr. Windsor for the first time said that the complaint related to 7 naturalized Malaysian players was sent from Vietnam, after the match between the two teams in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.
This information appeared right before the hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), causing public questions about the motive and timing of announcement.
According to Mr. Windsor, AFC received information from FIFA immediately after the match on June 10, 2025 and awaited an investigation by the world football authority. After that, FIFA issued a penalty to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for using unqualified players.
The AFC Secretary General also said that the Malaysian side's chances of winning the lawsuit at CAS have increased, after this agency temporarily suspended the suspension of naturalized players.
However, many Indonesian newspapers expressed skepticism about these statements.
According to a well-known newspaper, Mr. Windsor's sudden pointing out Vietnam as the sender of the complaint is incomprehensible, because Malaysia itself previously accused Indonesia of being behind the incident, but did not provide evidence. This newspaper also said that when it could not blame Indonesia, the AFC turned its spearhead to Vietnam and lacked consistency.
FIFA has published sufficient evidence of intentional dossier forgery by Malaysia, with a 63-page report refuting FAM's appeal. Therefore, naming Vietnam at this time does not change the nature of the case, but only makes public opinion doubt AFC's handling of information," the newspaper wrote.
Also according to the viewpoint of Indonesian media, FAM's violations are serious and have been clearly proven by FIFA, so shifting public opinion to a third party is not convincing.
Currently, CAS is expected to issue a ruling on February 26. The results of the hearing will close one of the biggest naturalization scandals in Southeast Asian football in recent years, and raise questions about the transparency and responsibility of the parties involved in the handling of the case.
