For more than a month, FAM has repeatedly affirmed that it is compliant with the procedures and determined to appeal to FIFA, then continued to submit the case to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). However, most Malaysian media and experts believe that FAM should accept reality instead of trying to prolong the incident.
Dont keep this embarrassment going. Those who have dragged Malaysia into this embarrassing incident must immediately resign, sports critic Datuk Pekan Ramli expressed his opinion.
After the FIFA Appeal Committee officially rejected the appeal and upheld the penalty, Malaysian public opinion became even harsher. Many domestic newspapers commented that this verdict is a "warning bell" for Malaysian football, and affirmed that "FIFA has given an unprecedented message, forgery has no place in the world football community".
Right before FIFA announced the results, FAM Acting President Yusoff Mahadi expressed his anger, saying that domestic media "came to place information to slander and defame FAM". However, after the verdict, FAM itself became the focus of criticism.
Former football player Azlan Johar called on the parties to take the issue seriously: Stop fake naturalization. Even if we lose the match, I still want us to lose the match properly.
