Title hopes dim in football-mad Malaysia after Fifa naturalisation scandal
International football’s governing body Fifa has released the findings of its probe into a naturalisation scandal involving seven Malaysian players, who were earlier fined and suspended after it emerged they were born in Europe, not Asia.
Fifa said the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had claimed the players were born in Malaysian provinces including Melaka, Penang, Johor and Sarawak, but an independent investigation found they were actually born in Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands:
- Spain – Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui
- Netherlands – Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano
- Argentina – Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca
- Brazil – Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo
According to Fifa, the players had only “doctored documentation.” Each was fined 2,000 Swiss francs ($2,500), while the Malaysian body faces a separate 350,000 Swiss franc ($440,000) penalty.
They will serve a 12-month ban, dimming title hopes for a country that has never won the Asian Cup or qualified for the World Cup — despite football being the top sport in the nation of 35 million.
“The Committee wished to highlight that it concurred with the conclusion of the Investigatory Reports, specifically, that the original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the documentation provided,” said Jorge Palacio, deputy chairman of the Fifa Disciplinary Committee, in the decision.
“This admission, so finds the Committee, indicates that the Malaysian government’s validation process may not have been based on original documents, which calls into question the thoroughness of FAM’s verification process,” he continued.
Malaysia’s football body said the suspension stemmed only from a “technical error” and vowed to comply with the appeals process to revert the decision.
“The association strongly denied that players deliberately sought to circumvent eligibility rules,” FAM said.
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, owner of the powerful Johor Darul Takzim Football Club, said Fifa flip-flopped on its decision.
“FAM has followed the proper process and cooperated with Fifa and the Malaysian government,” he said. “Fifa has approved this, so why has the decision changed now? What happened that suddenly led to such a decision?”
FAM said it “is awaiting the full judgment from Fifa before filing an appeal in accordance with the existing legal process.”
Malaysia currently leads its qualifying group with six points from two matches, though their standing could change pending further FIFA sanctions. Vietnam and Laos trail with three points each, while Nepal remains winless.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
