KUALA LUMPUR — As Malaysian football braces for the FIFA Appeal Committee’s impending verdict on the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) appeal, tension continues to mount among fans nationwide.
At the centre of the controversy are seven naturalised players—part of FAM’s short-term strategy to elevate Harimau Malaya’s competitiveness—who now find themselves embroiled in a scandal that threatens to derail the nation’s footballing ambitions.
So far, FIFA has imposed a fine of about 350,000 Swiss Franc (RM1.9 million) on FAM and handed a one-year ban to the seven players. But the question remains: could the world football body decide to impose even harsher punishment if the appeal fails?
In a similar case in 2016, FIFA discovered that twelve Brazilian-born players had represented Timor-Leste between 2011 and 2015 using forged documents to falsely claim Timorese ancestry.
Following the investigation, the Football Federation of Timor-Leste (FFTL) was fined Swiss Franc 70,000 (RM368,000) and banned from international football for three years after its appeal was rejected.
The case has since served as a precedent for how FIFA handles nationality and eligibility violations, a comparison that now looms large over Malaysia’s situation.
Speaking to Scoop, sports analyst Datuk Pekan Ramli said that even if FAM’s appeal is rejected, it is unlikely FIFA will impose any additional or heavier sanctions.
He explained that the current penalties are expected to remain, depending largely on the scope of the appeal submitted by FAM to FIFA’s Appeals Committee.
“What we don’t know are the details of the appeal,” said Pekan.
“It’s possible that FAM did not deny the alleged document falsification but instead focused on reducing the suspension period for the seven heritage players.”
“If that’s the case, then FIFA’s Appeals Committee will likely decide only on that aspect,” he added.
However, Pekan warned that if FIFA upholds the original ruling, the ripple effects could extend beyond Zurich—potentially prompting further disciplinary action from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
“Since some of the affected players represented Malaysia in the Asian Cup qualifiers against Nepal and Vietnam, those match results could be overturned—resulting in automatic defeats for Malaysia,” he explained, citing historical precedent.
In the 2016 Timor-Leste case, the AFC conducted a parallel investigation confirming that nine ineligible players had participated in 29 AFC and seven FIFA matches.
As a result, the AFC expelled Timor-Leste from the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers, fined the FFTL USD 20,000 (RM84,000), and ordered forfeits for all affected matches, along with a suspended fine of USD 56,000 (RM235,000).
Two officials were personally sanctioned—Justice Minister Amândio de Sá Benevides was banned for three years and fined USD 9,000 (RM37,800), while Gelasio De Silva Carvalho was fined USD 3,000 (RM12,600) for witness interference.
The scandal severely damaged Timor-Leste’s football progress and reputation, and the nation only regained participation rights after overhauling its player eligibility and naturalisation processes.
“There’s legitimate concern that Malaysia could face a similar outcome,” Pekan cautioned.
“Hopefully, it won’t reach the stage where the national team is suspended from the remaining 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers,” Pekan said. — October 30, 2025
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