On the evening of September 26, the World Football Federation (FIFA) announced the application of disciplinary measures against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and 7 naturalized players related to origin fraud.
The incident occurred in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnam team in the first leg of Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup final qualifiers at Kuala Lumpur Stadium in June 2025.
The players named include facundo Tomas Garces, Imanol Javier Machuca, Rodrigo Julian Holgado (Argentina), Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Gabriel Felipe Arrocha ( Spain), Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano (Netherlands) and Joao Vitor Brandao figueiredo (Brazil). Of which, there were 5 starting players from the start, playing an important role in helping Malaysia control the game and win big against Vietnam.
FIFA said that after the match, the agency received complaints about the validity of some Malaysian players. The investigation process discovered 7 cases that did not meet regulations, more than the initial number reported.
Each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (about 66 million VND) and banned from playing for 12 months. FAM was fined a total of 350,000 Swiss francs (more than 11.6 billion VND). However, these may be just initial disciplinary measures.
After FIFA's decision takes effect, the Disciplinary Committee of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will continue to review and propose additional sanctions for FAM and related players
It is likely that the result of the match between Malaysia and Vietnam will be canceled, even considering the possibility of removing Malaysia from the tournament.
If this scenario happens, Malaysia will be held to a 0-3 loss instead of a 4-0 win as on the field. This means that the Vietnam team - currently ranked 2nd in Group F with 3 points will rise to the top, holding a big advantage in the race for a place in the 2027 Asian Cup finals.
In fact, the AFC has been taking strong action against similar incidents. In 2017, Timor Leste was eliminated from the Asian Cup qualifiers for using naturalized players in violation of regulations, despite only one violation. Compared to the Malaysia case, the level of fraud this time is much more serious when involving 7 players, accounting for more than half of the squad.
According to regulations, FAM and the players involved have 10 days to appeal. If the appeal fails, the AFC will be the unit that will make the final decision on the result of the match on June 10, most likely recognizing the 3-0 victory for the Vietnam team.
