Recently, FIFA published a 63-page document related to the review of the appeal of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and 7 naturalized players.
The documents show that all of the players' initial naturalization applications were submitted to the Malaysian Government but without any documents proving their ancestral origin in Malaysia.
Only after the naturalization process was completed did FAM add their paternity certificate to the FIFA file, although these documents were later determined to have signs of non-confirmation.
FIFA has collected 7 copies of the birth certificates of the players, thereby determining that there is no data to prove the ancestral relationship with Malaysia. Accordingly, some players have played in 3 international friendly matches and 2 Asian Cup qualifiers, increasing the severity of the incident.
Upon receiving the complaint on June 11, FIFA began investigating and on August 22 conducted disciplinary procedures, and notified the relevant parties.
During the period from October 8-10, the players and FAM sent a document confirming the appeal and the official appeal was submitted on October 14. They also proposed applying temporary measures to continue competing while waiting for the verdict, but this request was rejected by the Chairman of the Jury on October 16.
The hearing was held on October 30 in Miami. Here, the players said they were just following FAM's instructions, did not understand FIFA's technical regulations and trusted the agent throughout the application process.
They also admitted that they transferred their personal documents, including their birth certificates and relatives to intermediaries without checking the content, and did not read the naturalization application or documents they had to sign in Malaysia.
However, according to FIFA, the documents sent by players via the WhatsApp application show that the birth certificate does not contain any information proving that their ancestors were born in Malaysia. The statements were assessed as contradictory and inconsistent with the evidence.
The players said they were scammed, did not receive legal advice and were not involved in forging documents at all. They suggested that mitigating factors such as goodwill, lack of professional knowledge and lack of personal benefits in addition to playing for the national team be considered.
In contrast, FAM argued that it acted in goodwill, complied with domestic legal procedures, and that all documents were issued by Malaysian agencies. FAM also admitted that some employees have adjusted the content of their foreign birth certificates while waiting for official confirmation, but affirmed that this is only an individual act, not a systematic policy.
The FIFA Jury did not accept these arguments. The agency assessed that both FAM and the players were cautious, did not provide timely explanations and tried to avoid responsibility.
Although the penalty cannot be increased due to the prescribed limitations, the Jury requested FIFA to launch a new investigation into FAM's internal activities, especially related to the role of the General Secretary and two licensed representatives.
In addition, another separate investigation will assess the use of unqualified players in three international friendly matches. At the same time, FIFA will forward information to criminal authorities in Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia to consider legal liability for the act of forging documents.
