Players of various sports all strive for one thing: to represent their countries. Countries, in turn, aim to pick their best players so that they can win tournaments and trophies. There can be cases where, out of desparation, they will do just about anything to achieve those aims.
This has recently been the case with the Malaysian football team. Football's governing body, FIFA, has accused the country fielding non-naturalised players in a recent match.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced plans on Tuesday to appeal against FIFA's sanctions following accusations of cheating. FIFA recently suspended seven players, all overseas-born, who participated in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in an Asian Cup qualifier. The suspension, along with a fine of $438 000, comes after FIFA accused FAM of submitting falsified documentation regarding the players' eligibility.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee issued a report that criticised the discrepancy between original birth certificates and the documents provided by FAM. According to FIFA, the papers falsely claimed that the players had grandparents born in Malaysia, granting them eligibility under FIFA rules. In actuality, the family members were born in the same countries as the players: Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.
FIFA condemned the action, likening it to a form of cheating that undermines the integrity of the sport. In response, FAM disputed these findings on social media, citing a lack of evidence. They contended that the involved players are legitimate Malaysian citizens; attributing the oversight to administrative errors.
The FAM is set to appeal using certified original documents from the Malaysian government. Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation is expected to refer the case to its Disciplinary Committee, which could lead to further sanctions, as Malaysia faces Laos on Thursday.
On Monday night, FIFA released a detailed 19-page report alleging that FAM and the players submitted falsified documents to prove their grandparents were born in Malaysia and obtain citizenship. FIFA said the original birth certificates revealed that the grandparents were actually born in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.
FAM has announced plans to hire world-leading legal experts to handle the appeal against sanctions from FIFA for forging foreign players' documents.
The appeal seeks to either defend FAM against the suspension or reduce the level of FIFA's sanctions. This process involves navigating complex international football laws; with FAM relying on the detailed disciplinary report from FIFA that was released on Monday to build a strong appeal case.
"Only highly skilled and experienced lawyers can ensure every fact, document and argument in the appeal reaches FIFA without technical errors," a source told New Straits Times. "It is understood that the national team management will engage lawyers from abroad to manage the case. It's certainly best left to the professionals in the hope of achieving a positive outcome."
On 26 September, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee (FDC) fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (US$440,000) for using falsified documents to register seven naturalized players, including Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal (Spanish origin), Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca (Argentine), Joao Figueiredo (Brazilian) and Hector Hevel (Dutch). The players were fined 2,000 Swiss francs each and banned from all football-related activities for 12 months.
FAM had 10 days to request a detailed disciplinary report with the basis for the sanctions, which they did.
FDC published a 19-page document on Monday night outlining the incident's development, the views of the penalised side, the legal basis from FIFA and the final ruling.
The document detailed specific evidence of the falsification of documents, with the major issue revolving around the birth certificates of the players' grandparents. Previously, FAM sent FIFA the birth certificates which confirmed that the players' grandparents were born in Malaysia, a crucial factor for players to become naturalized based on their bloodline.
However, FIFA later found out that the real birth certificates proved otherwise, that the grandparents were actually born in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.
This discrepancy raised questions about the legitimacy of the naturalisation process.
FAM's application to FIFA to confirm the eligibility of the players was submitted in stages, beginning in March 2025 with Hevel, followed by Palmero. In June, the documentation for the remaining five players was also submitted.
FIFA initially approved the their eligibility to play for Malaysia but the sentence "appears to be eligible" suggested that FIFA's approval was based on the documentation provided; with FAM being held accountable should further violations come to light.
A day after all the seven players were featured in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam at the ASEAN Cup qualifiers on 10 June 2025, FIFA received a complaint questioning their eligibility.
The complainant believes that the naturalisation process and international debut of these players, "took place within a questionable timeframe, raising significant questions about the validity of this process."
According to FIFA, FAM argued that "competent Malaysian authorities were presented with the applications concerning the players, with the relevant documents and an official file of each player was opened by the Malaysian government."
"Neither FAM nor the players were ever aware of the circumstance that some of the documents submitted might have been falsified. Neither FAM nor the players ever played any role in the preparation of the documents that are now alleged to be false. The conduct of FAM and the players was correct and devoid of any intent or fault," FAM said, according to the report.
However, FDC emphasised the importance of the documents' authenticity. FIFA's investigation also revealed that the National Registration Department of Malaysia (NRD) didn't receive the original birth certificates. Instead, NRD had issued copies based on secondary sources and was unable to retrieve the original handwritten documents. This admission raised doubts about the thoroughness and reliability of the verification process.
After investigation, FDC's report revealed significant inconsistencies between the documents submitted by FAM and the original ones. On 22 and 28 August, a disciplinary sub-committee was established and notified via the FIFA Legal Portal to the defendant. FDC gave FAM and seven players until 22 September to present their views.
In response, FAM argued that the players' naturalization was conducted in good faith, in line with Malaysian law and that any potential violations were unintentional. FAM also insisted that the alleged falsification had no significant impact on the outcome of the matches and should only warrant minor penalties. FAM requested that the investigation be closed and the accusations dismissed.
However, FDC rejected this argument, stressing that the falsification and use of fraudulent documents had serious consequences. FDC emphasised that the integrity of international football and fair play was compromised, especially as the players involved had participated in the win over Vietnam, with two of the players scoring.
FIFA referred to past cases involving document falsification, such as the case of Equatorial Guinea player, Camila Maria and Moroccan club, Chabab Mrirt, in 2016 and 2024, respectively. These precedents were used to justify the penalties imposed on FAM and the players.
The 19-page disciplinary report sets the stage for FAM and the players to appeal the decision. FAM now has until 9 October to notify FIFA of their intent to appeal. The appeal must be submitted within five days, along with a fee of 1 000 Swiss francs.
If FAM is dissatisfied with the appeal's outcome, they have 10 days to request a detailed report, which would allow them to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days. CAS typically processes appeals when both the plaintiff and defendant agree to go to court.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stated that it will only consider the case after a final decision is made. AFC is closely monitoring the situation, especially since the seven players involved were featured in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, including the 2-0 win over Nepal and the 4-0 victory over Vietnam. If found guilty, AFC can disqualify Malaysia from the tournament or hand them two 0-3 defeats in place of the two wins.
To increase the strength of the national football team, FAM accelerated the naturalisation of players under a bloodline policy tracing Malaysian ancestry to grandparents.
Indonesian football newspaper, Bola, highlighted several suspicions in the naturalisation process: lack of transparency, unusually fast procedures and unclear lineage verification. The bloodline connections of these players were never publicly disclosed, leaving Malaysian fans unaware of their ancestry until FAM's official announcement.
"Malaysian fans didn't know any specific detail of the players' ancestry," Bola wrote. "There were only confusing information from the media."
Malaysia Home Minister, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, emphasised that all decisions on granting citizenship comply with the federal constitution and undergo meticulous checks, including interviews, biometrics and thorough verification; with applicants required to be present in Malaysia, according to The Star.
The naturalisation process for these footballers reportedly took only a few weeks, a stark contrast to the multi-month or even multi-year process for players in Vietnam, Russia and Indonesia. During an interview with Spanish newspaper, El Correo, in August, center-back Garces said it only took him a few weeks to obtain Malaysian citizenship.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, foreign-born players like Filip Nguyen (Czech) and Cao Pendant Quang Vinh (France) had to go through a long process. Even when they played for clubs in Vietnam, it still took them from 6 to 12 months to receive citizenship. Russian-born midfielder, Viktor Le, had to wait two years.
Foreign-born players in Indonesia also went through a long process, including a hearing at the House of Representatives. The event was broadcast live on social media, Bola reported.
Malaysia's inclusion of South American players has also raised eyebrows. Historical ties between Malaysia and this region are minimal and these players reportedly were surprised when FAM informed them of their Malaysian ancestry, according to Bola.
Previous naturalised players of Malaysia mostly came from Europe or Australia, such as Matthew Davies (Australia); La'Vere Corbin-Ong (England/Barbados); Junior Eldstal (Sweden); Daniel Ting, Stuart Wilkin, Hong Wan (England); Dion Cools (Belgium) and Nooa Laine (Finland).
FIFA regulations allow eligibility if a player's parent or grandparent was born in the country, or if the player has lived continuously in the federation for at least five years after age 10 or three years before 10. Bola said Malaysia may have exploited a loophole by letting their citizens legally adopt children related to the biological parentage of foreign players from South America and Spain, which may explain why FAM kept their backgrounds confidential.
There are also concerns over falsified birth certificates. The National Registration Department (NRD) announced on 19 September that the players have applied for naturalisation based on bloodline from their grandparents. However, NRD said that it was unable to retrieve the original handwritten birth certificate from the archives and instead issued an official copy based on evidence that a birth had occurred, in accordance with current administrative practice.
While legally valid under Malaysian law, FIFA has the right to question if documents fail to comply with federation regulations.
Malaysian news outlet, Semuanya Bola (SBWTF), suggests the FIFA sanctions may have been politically timed to divert attention from the Israel controversy. In the same week, UEFA was considering suspending Israel from international competitions due to the current situation in Gaza.
"Malaysia was made a scapegoat, while bigger issues were ignored," the newspaper wrote.
While the players have not yet been confirmed guilty, they are still required to comply with the suspension and will be removed from the squad of their respective clubs. These players, along with their representatives and clubs, are collaborating with FAM to file the appeal.
This whole case seems a bit complex. There are multiple facets. To me, It looks like FAM took the easy route to the registration. Their actions do seem a bit fishy. They should've just been a straight shooter. Being honest is the best policy.
They shouldn't fast track the naturalisation process. The proper order of events should've been followed.