When the Vietnamese team lost 0-4 to Malaysia in June 2025, the door to the 2027 Asian Cup finals for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team was closed.
Because on the evening of September 26, the World Football Federation (FIFA) announced a penalty for the Football Federation of Malaysia for violations related to naturalized players.
Why hasn't Malaysia been defeated yet?
According to FIFA's disciplinary regulations, a team that uses an unauthorized player in any match will be considered a give-up, which means a 0-3 loss.
However, there is an important detail that is being misunderstood. In FIFA's decision on September 26, the Malaysia Football Federation was not fined for using invalid players.
The violation in this case is related to the issue of "forging and distorting" the naturalization records of 7 players. This is the key point leading to the disciplinary action being only administrative - fines and competition ban.
However, the disciplinary review process did not stop there. FIFA's announcement also has a noteworthy detail: The Disciplinary Committee has transferred the dossier to another department called FIFA Football Tribunal. This is where the verdict will be made on whether the 7 cases of "forged and distorted" records are valid for Malaysian players or not.
If the FIFA Football Court's answer is invalid (only need 1 out of 7 people), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will issue a penalty. In this case, the Malaysian team will definitely be defeated, and may even be eliminated from the tournament.
Scenario of Malaysia Football Federation getting away with crime
Even in the case of an unsuccessful appeal for the forgery and deviation error, FAM is still hopeless. It is not always the case that violating documents leads to invalid judgments of players.
World football has had such a precedent, typically the case of the Ecuador team in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. FIFA determined that the Ecuador Football Federation used documents containing false information about the background of player Byron Castillo and imposed a penalty.
However, Castillo was later determined to be a legal Ecuadoran citizen and eligible to compete. The Ecuador team has not lost any match and has maintained its place in the World Cup.
The Football Association of Malaysia is probably arguing in this direction. The 7 players are legally naturalized under Malaysian law. FIFA has reviewed and confirmed the playing status of these players.
However, the story of the Malaysian team is more complicated than that of Ecuador. Castillo was registered to compete with Ecuador's nationality from the beginning, while 7 Malaysian players are those who have to go through the naturalization and naturalization registration process. For this group, FIFA has its own set of regulations.
In case a player is legally naturalized but does not meet the legal status to compete, it can still happen. Nguyen Xuan Son is an example. He became a Vietnamese citizen in October 2024, but it was not until mid-December that he was officially a valid Vietnamese player.
The Football Association of Malaysia must provide evidence to prove that their naturalized players had completed all procedures according to FIFA standards at the time of playing. This is not unlikely.
In general, it is not possible to confirm that the Malaysian team will be considered a loss or eliminated from the tournament. The key to the story is the FIFA Court's verdict.
There is also a scenario where the case ends early in the most beneficial direction for the Football Federation of Malaysia, which is that they successfully appeal the paperwork errors.
