The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has begun to send initial signals about the controversial case of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) related to the naturalization dossier of 7 players.
After months of waiting, the hearing process is entering a crucial stage and may close sooner than expected.
According to the initial schedule, the official hearing between FAM and related parties is expected to take place on February 26. However, CAS has organized separate working sessions with the legal team of Malaysia from February 23, showing that the case is being handled according to a simplified process.
By the afternoon of February 24, Malaysian media revealed that the working sessions had completed initial steps and the decision-making process was being accelerated.
A noteworthy detail is that no senior FAM leaders were directly present in Switzerland. Instead, the entire file and arguments were handed over to a group of legal representatives, purely legal from Malaysia during this period.
Malaysian newspapers reported that CAS may announce the final ruling in the early morning of February 27 (local time), just 1 day after the official hearing. This is a scenario that surprised public opinion, because many experts once said that such a complex case would drag on through many rounds of litigation.
Previously, CAS had issued a temporary decision favorable to Malaysia when suspending FIFA's penalty for 7 players, but this was only a procedural step. AFC also revealed that FAM's appeal goal was to find a way to mitigate the ban.
