The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has accepted the application to temporarily suspend the match ban imposed by FIFA on 7 fraudulent naturalized players of Malaysia. Therefore, 7 players including Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel are still playing for clubs, while waiting for CAS to issue a final ruling on the case of illegal naturalized players of Malaysia.
While waiting for a decision from CAS, according to former striker Safee Sali, the Malaysian team should not use these 7 players in the rematch with the Vietnamese team on March 31 in Nam Dinh. Because according to him, this poses a "very high risk", because if the appeal to CAS fails, the Malaysian team will be stripped of points from previous matches.
To ensure safety in the current situation, this is just my personal opinion. I feel they should rest a bit. That is my point of view.
But perhaps the coaching staff has a different opinion, I'm not sure. If they decide to put those players on the field, they must be willing to take risks based on any developments or decisions that may arise. If they feel it's worth risking, they must take responsibility for that decision.
Previously, FIFA canceled the results of three friendly matches with the participation of these players. The Malaysian team was defeated 0-3 in matches against Cape Verde on May 29, 2025, the 2-1 victory over Singapore on September 4, 2025 and the 1-0 victory over Palestine on September 8, 2025.
However, currently the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) or the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) have not made any decisions on whether to deduct points from the Malaysian team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers or not.
Currently in Group F, Malaysia is still at the top of the group with 15 points after 5 consecutive wins. Vietnam is ranked 2nd with 12 points. The next decision of FIFA or AFC will depend on the CAS's ruling in the near future.
