Indonesian media reacts as FIFA rejects Malaysia's appeal

Bola forecasts a negative result for Malaysia's national team following FIFA's rejection of their appeal.

On the evening of November 3rd, FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber issued a decision to fully dismiss the appeal filed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven naturalized players concerning the disciplinary sanctions previously imposed by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee.

According to FIFA's conclusion, the seven players—Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vítor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano—along with the Football Association of Malaysia, violated Article 22 of FIFA's Disciplinary Code, related to falsification and forgery of documents to legitimize their eligibility to represent Malaysia's national team.

The final decision by FIFA immediately attracted attention from regional media. Indonesia's Bola headline predicted a grim outcome for Malaysia: "Malaysia's national team faces risk of defeat due to use of fake naturalized players."

The leading sports newspaper from the archipelago also anticipated that Malaysia's national team is likely to be handed 0-3 losses in two matches and fail to advance beyond the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers: "With FIFA’s final ruling, Malaysia is at risk of being eliminated from the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers due to problematic players, including matches against Vietnam and Nepal.

This means Vietnam’s national team has a strong chance to gain additional free points, while Malaysia risks losing their ranking position. Currently, the Malaysian Tigers lead Group F with 12 points, three points ahead of second-place Vietnam and six points ahead of third-place Laos. If they lose six points from defeats against Vietnam and Nepal, Malaysia’s national team will immediately drop to third place."

According to FIFA’s announcement, FAM and the players received the decision today. They have 10 days to request a detailed version of the ruling and then 21 days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Malaysia’s team is still allowed to participate in the remaining matches of the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. However, under AFC disciplinary regulations, Malaysia faces the risk of being handed 0-3 losses in the matches against Nepal and Vietnam due to fielding ineligible players.

The final decision on this matter will be made by the AFC—the organizer of the Asian Cup—after FAM completes all related legal procedures. This process is expected to conclude by March 31, 2026, the end of the final qualifying round, to ensure there is sufficient basis to determine the teams qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup finals.