BREAKING: FIFA is about to impose harsher penalties on 7 Malaysian players

A new turning point awaits Malaysian football as the shocking case prepares to enter its decisive judgment phase.

The case involving seven Malaysian players suspended over allegations of document forgery remains unresolved as they are set to face the next hearing before the FIFA Tribunal (FIFA's Internal Court). According to Harian Metro, this is considered a higher internal adjudication level, with authority to thoroughly review the case file and issue a ruling on the players' eligibility to compete.

Previously, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee handed down a 12-month suspension starting from September, along with fines for the seven players and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). They were found to have violated regulations by using invalid documents during player registration, which directly impacted the transparency of international football.

Immediately after the initial sanctions, FAM and the players made efforts to appeal. However, the FIFA Appeal Committee upheld the previous decisions. As internal FIFA options narrow, FAM announced plans to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in hopes of overturning the verdict.

Nonetheless, before proceeding to CAS, the case must still go through another step at FIFA’s Internal Court. This body consists of three main panels: Disciplinary, Appeal, and Eligibility - Player Registration. Here, all panels will convene together to re-examine the entire documentation, from which they will deliver a final decision regarding the players' eligibility to represent Malaysia.

According to sports lawyer Nik Erman Nik Roseli, FAM faces a major challenge. He believes the chances of success are very slim since the two previous adjudication levels rejected Malaysia’s arguments. Without new evidence from FAM, the risk of heavier sanctions is entirely possible.

The seven suspended players are Gabriel Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal, and Hector Hevel. Besides the 12-month suspension, each was fined 2,000 CHF (over 65 million VND), while FAM faced a 350,000 CHF fine (about 11.5 billion VND). All these payments must be made directly to FIFA as per the issued rulings.

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