Despite being penalized with a 0-3 loss to the Vietnam national team, Malaysia retains the right to appeal.

Malaysia maintains the right to appeal if they believe the AFC's punishment related to the naturalized player controversy is too harsh.

Malaysian football can still proceed with an appeal if they deem the penalty from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to be overly heavy. According to current regulations, all disciplinary decisions by the AFC can be reconsidered through appeal mechanisms, and may even be brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if the involved parties disagree with the initial ruling.

Under Article 25 of the AFC Disciplinary Code, penalties may include annulling match results and awarding a 0-3 loss to the violating team. Article 56 stipulates disciplinary measures against players or federations, but does not grant the Disciplinary Committee authority to impose sanctions beyond the prescribed framework.

The AFC Secretary-General emphasized that all disciplinary decisions will be made by the Disciplinary Committee based on existing regulations. "All decisions can be appealed, even taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Therefore, the committee must be very cautious and can only act within the scope of its authorized powers", Mr. Windsor stated.

Parallel to considering disciplinary measures, the AFC has also conducted a comprehensive audit of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) following the scandal involving naturalized players. According to AFC Secretary-General Datuk Seri Windsor John, the audit process is expected to be completed before the World Cup in June, serving as a basis for changes in FAM's governance structure.

"We aim to complete the report and then convene an Extraordinary Congress. If changes need to be approved, members must vote at the congress", Windsor John stated during a press conference at Wisma FAM headquarters on March 16. According to the AFC leader, the assessment results will help identify gaps in the management process and propose necessary reform measures.

The Malaysian football scandal stems from suspicions related to seven naturalized players: Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, Hector Hevel, Gabriel Palmero, Rodrigo Holgado, Facundo Garces, and Imanol Machuca. The AFC stated that the audit will focus on reviewing the entire decision chain within the governance system to identify breakpoints in the inspection and monitoring process. "We are not an investigative agency. The AFC can only examine documents, information flows, and decision-making processes to determine where the problem lies", an AFC representative said.