Malaysian media unexpectedly expressed a statement following AFC's penalty announcement.

Malaysian media felt relieved after AFC indicated that this nation's player naturalization controversy is difficult to result in heavy sanctions similar to the Timor-Leste situation before.

The event where the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held a press conference on March 16 morning to announce the investigation results regarding the illegal naturalization of 7 players attracted special attention from regional public opinion. However, instead of pessimistic headlines, Malaysian media quickly published optimistic assessments about the possibility of escaping international competition bans.

The newspaper New Strait Times posed a hopeful question right on its front page: “Will Malaysia not be suspended by AFC, unlike Timor-Leste?”. This newspaper quoted AFC Secretary-General - Datuk Seri Windsor John Paul, to reassure fans that although the two scandals appear similar, the fate of "The Tigers" is unlikely to be as tragic as that Southeast Asian neighbor.

The key point lies in the timing of discovering the violation. Regarding the Timor-Leste case, Mr. Windsor explained that the document forgery was only exposed after the tournament had concluded, forcing the governing body to apply a "forward-looking punishment" by banning participation in the next competition.

Conversely, for Malaysian football, the Secretary-General affirmed: “This case was discovered while the competition was still ongoing. It cannot be said that the Timor-Leste case and the FAM case are identical. The situations are not at all similar.”

Although escaping the fear of complete isolation, this country's media also admitted that this remains a serious legal crisis. The AFC Disciplinary Committee is strictly following procedures and has sent a letter requesting FAM to provide explanations within a 10-day period.

Mr. Windsor also delivered a stern reminder in the media: “This legal matter cannot be taken lightly. They need to assess the facts. The committee has power, but that power is limited within the disciplinary code. It cannot be more, nor can it be less.”

Even though the Football Association of Malaysia still faces a fine exceeding 11 billion VND and players are banned from official competitions for 12 months, not being suspended from international play is considered a legal victory.

For Malaysian media, this is an opportunity for FAM to rectify mistakes and close one of the darkest chapters in the nation's football history, while moving forward to important upcoming tournaments without the haunting shadow of "competition bans."