The Football Association of Malaysian (FAM) and seven naturalised players will know their fate at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 26th February this month.
CASA has fixed the date to hear the appeals from the FAM and the players who are embroiled in a controversy that had rocked Malaysia in recent months. The entire FAM executive council had also tendered their resignation recently in the wake of the scandal.
FIFA had implicated the FAM in the scandal involving forged documents used to naturalize seven foreign-born players for the national team.
Following findings of falsified documentation for a 2025 Asian Cup qualifier, FIFA fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs and imposed 12-month bans on the players.
The seven players sanctioned were Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal, and Héctor Hevel.
The players were initially barred from playing for 12 months but were given a reprieve earlier this month until the case if disposed of.
FIFA accused FAM of “doctoring” birth certificates to make it appear as though foreign-born players had grandparents from Malaysia.
FAM has stated that the discrepancies arose from an “administrative error,” insisting the players are “legitimate Malaysian citizens”.
