On March 16, the Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - Mr. Windsor Paul John spoke out to explain the disciplinary decision against the Malaysian national team, affirming that this case is different from the case of Timor-Leste before, so no sanctions are applied.
The AFC Secretary General emphasized that although the Malaysian case has similarities with the case of Timor-Leste when it relates to the issue of player naturalization dossiers, the context of the violation is different. The case of Timor-Leste was only discovered after the tournament ended, so the AFC is forced to apply sanctions in the next tournament.
Previously, Timor-Leste football was heavily disciplined by AFC when it was discovered that the General Secretary of the Timor-Leste Football Federation, Amandio de Araujo Sarmento, forged documents to naturalize 9 Brazilian players playing for the national team. As a result, the Timor-Leste team was eliminated from the 2017 Asian Cup finals and banned from participating in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers.
Meanwhile, in the case of Malaysia, violations were discovered when the tournament was still taking place. Therefore, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee only applies forms of handling within the current regulations, including canceling the match result and defeating 3-0.
Mr. Windsor Paul John also said that all decisions of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee may be appealed. After that, the case may even be submitted to CAS for consideration.
Disciplinary decisions must be based on the provisions of the code, and penalties beyond authority cannot be imposed. If the penalty is considered too severe, the parties involved have the full right to appeal," said Mr. Windsor Paul John.
