OFFICIAL: FIFA finalizes severe penalty for Malaysia

FIFA has officially announced the sanction against the Football Association of Malaysia for falsifying naturalization documents of 7 players.

In the early hours of October 7th, Vietnam time, FIFA issued decision FDD-24394 regarding Malaysia’s forgery of documents to naturalize 7 players. Notably, this FIFA ruling spans 19 pages, providing comprehensive evidence of the Football Association of Malaysia’s illegal naturalization activities.

Specifically, FIFA holds the original birth certificates of the parents of the 7 naturalized Malaysian players mentioned. Compared to the altered documents used for illegal naturalization, none of these parents were born in Malaysia. According to the original birth certificates, they were born in Western countries such as the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain.

At the conclusion of the decision, FIFA reiterated the penalties imposed on the Football Association of Malaysia and the involved players. Specifically, the sanctions remain unchanged:

1: The Football Association of Malaysia and players Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano were found guilty of violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (Forgery and Falsification) for using forged and/or falsified documents during FIFA proceedings.

2. The Football Association of Malaysia is ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 CHF to FIFA.

3. Each player—Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano—must pay a fine of 2,000 CHF to FIFA.

4. The aforementioned players are also suspended from all football-related activities for twelve (12) months, effective from the date of notification of this decision.

5. All fines imposed by this decision must be paid within thirty (30) days from the date of notification.

Thus, FIFA has maintained the previous sanctions against the Football Association of Malaysia. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee reviewed the evidence and arguments from FAM and the players but found sufficient grounds to confirm forgery. However, whether to forfeit matches played by Malaysia’s national team using these players, especially the 4-0 victory over Vietnam, was not addressed.

This authority remains with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), as the match was part of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. After FIFA’s decision takes effect, the AFC Disciplinary Committee will review and decide on any further actions against FAM.