KUALA LUMPUR – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has ruled out the possibility of cancelling Malaysia’s third-round AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifier against Vietnam, following the recent Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision involving the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the national team.
Speaking to Scoop, AFC secretary-general Windsor Paul affirmed that the match will go ahead as planned, highlighting the binding contractual and commercial responsibilities associated with such fixtures.
“The matches must go on. These are contractual and commercial fixtures that should not be cancelled unless national interests dictate otherwise,” he said.
“Both Vietnam and Malaysia have commercial commitments to fulfil, and these games are also important for rankings. ‘Cancellation’ is never a good word in football.”
Windsor also confirmed that the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee has begun reviewing the case in light of the CAS ruling.
“To inform the public, the committee will convene to make a final decision after receiving a formal response from FAM. We have identified the relevant clauses in the regulations that were breached and have requested their explanation. The AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee has the file open and is prepared to deliberate on the matter. We expect a decision within seven to ten days.”
He added that the review process is at its initial charging stage.
“We must give FAM sufficient time to respond. After that, the committee will sit and determine the appropriate course of action based on their response and the evidence submitted by FIFA.”
Last week, CAS partially upheld an appeal by seven footballers who had been sanctioned for falsifying documents in an eligibility case linked to FAM. The tribunal confirmed that the players will still serve a 12-month suspension from official matches but revised FIFA’s earlier sanction, allowing them to continue training and participate in other football-related activities with their clubs.
The players involved are Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel.
Meanwhile, a separate appeal by FAM was dismissed by CAS, meaning the association must still pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (approximately RM1.8 million). - March 9, 2026
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