The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed that it will continue to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after receiving a final ruling from the FIFA Reprimand Committee.
This announcement was announced by Acting President of FAM, Mr. Yusoff Mahadi, and immediately faced a strong wave of criticism from experts and public opinion in the country. Many Malaysian experts believe that FAM's determination to pursue the lawsuit only prolongs the embarrassment rather than accepting the penalty.
Not only controversial, this legal journey also costs a huge amount of money. According to estimates from Malaysian media, bringing the case to CAS could cost FAM at least $300,000 (about 7.8 billion VND), excluding attorney and travel costs.
However, fans were somewhat reassured when the Premier of Johor - county Ibrahim Ismail announced that he would finance the entire cost of the appeal process. From there, FAM can continue to appeal without being too concerned about financial issues.
According to a Malaysian TV channel, FAM will adjust its strategy when bringing the case to CAS, as Swiss lawyer Serge Vittoz continues to be a legal advisor.
The goal of the Football Federation of Malaysia is to find a way to reduce the penalty, show goodwill to cooperate and hope to avoid being defeated by the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Currently, FAM is waiting to receive a detailed minutes from FIFA, expected before November 13. After that, they will have 3 weeks to complete the dossier and make an official decision on submitting the application to CAS.
