From Malaysia's case of illegal player naturalization: The struggles of football in a marginalized region

10/10/2025 15:40:00 esportapi

At least seven naturalized foreign players from Malaysia have been or are currently under FIFA investigation due to the Malaysian Football Association (FAM) intentionally falsifying documents. FAM and these players have the right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest neutral body, but the likelihood of reversing the verdict is low after FIFA released extensive evidence spanning dozens of pages.

In the past, Malaysian football had to be completely overhauled following negative scandals and match-fixing in the M-League during the 1990s. The Vietnamese national league at that time, before the establishment of the V-League, faced similar problems. At that period, the competitiveness of Malaysia’s national team was quite comparable to Vietnam’s "golden generation" in regional tournaments, with matches resulting in wins, losses, and numerous draws.

Though their strength fluctuated, including a brief period in 2009-2010 when Malaysia dominated Vietnam in regional competitions, it officially took 30 years before the "Malaysian Tigers" could surpass us in an official match. This was the 4-0 victory recently spotlighted during the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Malaysian football in particular, and Southeast Asian football in general — one of the most underdeveloped regions worldwide — has consistently faced issues over the past three decades. Vietnamese fans surely have not forgotten the notorious match between Indonesia and Thailand in the final round of Group A at the 1998 Tiger Cup at Thong Nhat Stadium, the tournament that was the forerunner of today’s ASEAN Cup!

Without the illegal use of naturalized foreign players, the Malaysian national team would have no way to defeat the Vietnamese national team by a 4-0 scoreline. Photo: Tuấn Phạm

Similar to Malaysia, Indonesian football has experienced chaos domestically, with multiple organizing committees for national leagues. In 2007, the Thai Football Association also decided to "break down" the outdated Thai League and launched the Thai Premier League, modeled after the English Premier League, which has since developed strongly. Many reforms have been introduced to improve Southeast Asian football leagues, but the shadow of corruption still lingers.

Returning to the issue of document fraud in the latest cases of player naturalization in Malaysian football. It’s not just a few players, but nearly an entire squad being naturalized en masse, which is highly unusual. This could be a "big bang" event for marginalized football regions, driven by a desire for instant transformation and shortcuts to success.

Previously, Singapore, the Philippines, and especially Indonesia have achieved certain successes using similar strategies, but clearly, these were not sustainable.

In Vietnam, during 2008-2010, we experimented with this approach but were immediately stopped because it was not a consistent direction. To build a self-reliant football foundation, internal resources remain the key factor, not external forces. Only by ASEAN Cup 2024, with the rise of Nguyễn Xuân Son, did demands for leveraging external expertise (including overseas Vietnamese players) resurface.

Slow but steady, and importantly, without breaking the rules. Just look at the latest case involving the nationality application plans of Đỗ Hoàng Hên (Hendrio Araujo da Silva) at Hanoi FC, and many will understand the issue.

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