According to an announcement on March 5, in Lausanne (Switzerland), the CAS arbitration council confirmed that there was an act of falsifying the naturalization documents and eligibility documents of the players. However, this agency has adjusted part of the scope of application of the penalty compared to the initial decision from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
Specifically, 7 players including Facundo Tomas Garces Rattaro, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano are still banned from playing for 12 months.
However, the ban only applies to official matches, instead of all football activities as previously sanctioned by FIFA. This means that players can still train with the club during the suspension period.
Previously, in 2025, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) approached the above-mentioned group of players and advised them that they could apply for Malaysian citizenship to be eligible to wear the national team jersey. After that, the players completed the naturalization procedures and were issued Malaysian passports.
However, on September 25, 2025, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee concluded that FAM and the players violated regulations by using fake documents during the naturalization process, while these players had no legal connection with Malaysia as prescribed by FIFA. This ruling was later upheld by the FIFA Complaints Committee in November 2025.
According to the initial penalty, FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (about 9.1 billion VND), and each player was fined and banned from participating in all football activities for 12 months.
After appealing to CAS in December 2025, FAM acknowledged the existence of "systematic shortcomings" in the processing of the file, and said that the players only played a limited role in providing documents and did not directly draft or edit documents.
After consideration, CAS decided to uphold the 12-month ban on 7 players but narrowed the scope of application. The ban took effect from March 5, 2026 and was calculated minus the time the players had been suspended before. Meanwhile, the fine of 350,000 Swiss francs for FAM remained unchanged.
