After Southeast Asian and international media raised many questions about the possibility of the Malaysian team being sanctioned for using an unidentified naturalized player in the 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team, a new development continued to put Malaysia in a difficult position.
Accordingly, in the match between Malaysia and Nepal last March, coach Peter Cklamovski and his team won 2-0 against their opponent. Notably, one of the two goals was scored by Hector Hevel - a player on the list of 7 people confirmed by FIFA to have been naturalized in violation of regulations.
According to the Nepal Football Federation, Hector Hevel is not eligible to compete because his family background is not related to Malaysia. Hevel's grandfather is said to have been born in The Hague (Netherlands), which violates FIFA's nationality standards. Nepal has complained to FIFA about the issue.
Mr. Windsor John - AFC Secretary General (also from Malaysia) recently admitted that matches using naturalized players to cheat will be awarded. Therefore, the risk of Malaysia being deducted points is likely to happen and the match against Nepal is no exception.
If Nepal's complaint is accepted, they can be defended and get the first 3 points in Group D. This result could significantly change the situation of the group, also considered a memorable milestone for the Nepal team in the Asian Cup qualifying campaign.
In the context of FIFA and the AFC tightening regulations related to naturalization of players, the incident of Malaysia is likely to lead to severe penalties in the coming time.
