Recently, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed that the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has approved the postponement of the enforcement of the ban on 7 naturalized players, including Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.
Previously, FIFA issued a 12-month ban on these players, and also applied financial penalties to FAM for violations related to naturalization records.
While waiting for the final verdict, 7 players are still allowed to participate in professional football activities, including playing for clubs and national teams.
The CAS will continue to consider the content of the appeal before issuing a final ruling. At that time, if the appeal is rejected, FIFA's ban will be restored and fully applied.
With the current situation, the possibility of 7 naturalized players participating in the match against the Vietnamese team is still open. If CAS has not issued a conclusion before the match in March, they are still eligible to register to play for Malaysia.
Conversely, in the event that the final ruling is announced early and disadvantageous to the FAM, the Malaysian national team's force may continue to be seriously affected.
FAM said it has not received any notice of a specific deadline for the final decision from the CAS. While waiting, the Malaysian team is likely to still build a professional plan with the participation of the above-mentioned naturalized players, preparing contingency plans if the legal situation changes in a disadvantageous direction.
