The FIFA Disciplinary Committee (FDC) has just issued a severe penalty for Malaysian football related to the case of 7 naturalized players using fake documents. As a result, the Malaysian team lost 0-3 in 3 matches, including a 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the second round of Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The group of violators includes Joao figueiredo, Rodrigo Holgado, Gabriel Palmero, Imanol Machuca, facundo Garces, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. FDC determined that the use of fake or invalid household registration documents is a serious violation of international football principles.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (over 11 billion VND), the players were banned from playing for 12 months and had an additional fine of 2,000 francs (about 65 million VND). This is the heaviest disciplinary action that Malaysian football has ever faced, as the team is heavily dependent on naturalized players.
FAM appealed to the FIFA Complaints Committee but the penalty remained the same. FAM then continued to file a petition with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on December 8, scheduled to submit a detailed argument on December 18 in Lausanne, Switzerland. CAS is the final instance of resolving disputes with FIFA, but reversal decisions are often rare due to FIFA's providing of sufficient evidence and detailed arguments.
Currently, Malaysian football is facing a big challenge in stabilizing the squad ahead of upcoming tournaments.
