In response to many people's disappointment, FIFA has sanctioned Malaysia for allegedly using fake documents in registering seven Malaysian players for the national team.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has fined the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) 350,000 French francs. Players facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca, Hector Hevel, Gabriel Palmero, Rodrigo Holgado, Joao figueiredo and Jon Irazabal are also suspended for 12 months and each of them has been fined 2,000 Swiss francs.
Lawyer Nik Erman Nik Rosel shared with TimesSport about what could happen next for the Malaysian team, after FIFA's penalty.
Some fans are wondering whether Malaysia will be banned from FIFA tournaments. On this issue, Erman said FIFA sanctions do not mean that the national team is banned from participating in tournaments.
He said FAM could appeal the Disciplinary Committee's decision by sending it to the FIFA Committee for Reprimand. According to him, FAM has 10 days from the date of receiving the full written decision from the Disciplinary Committee to submit an appeal to FIFA.
He said: "For FAM to be able to defend itself, it needs to have a well-founded decision from FIFA because this decision will include considerations related to violations. Therefore, FAM needs to request a well-founded decision and then appeal it to the Jury.
Erman added that if the FAM remains unhappy with the FIFA Reprimand Committee's decision, it can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lawyer Nik Erman Nik Rosel said that FIFA's Reprimand Committee could keep the sanctions, amend or lift them against FAM and the seven players.
"The best scenario for Malaysian football is the decision and the punishment are reversed. The worst scenario is to decide to keep it and increase the penalty, such as a heavier penalty or ban, said Nik Erman.
However, Erman stressed the importance of waiting for FIFA to fully explain before making a conclusion. If there is no basis for the decision, the parties should not speculate because people do not know which documents were discovered to be forged and what the reason FIFA made the decision was, he said. All speculation and criticism are not beneficial to anyone.
The sports lawyer added that any further action from Malaysia must depend on what FIFA reveals.
According to him, the punishment must be commensurate with the severity of the violation. That depends on which documents were forged and who is involved. Is it a FAM official, a player, a representative or anyone else...
