KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s participation in the next two editions of the AFC Asian Cup is now in serious jeopardy after FIFA’s Appeal Committee yesterday upheld sanctions against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)’s seven newly naturalised national players of heritage status.
With the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) now serving as the final avenue for appeal, Malaysia faces an anxious wait that could stretch well into next year.
Sources familiar with the matter told Scoop that the case could take several months to resolve, with a ruling by CAS likely only by March 2026.
“The situation mirrors what happened to Timor-Leste, where the country was banned for fielding ineligible players and forced to miss major international tournaments,” said the source.
The source added that if Malaysia loses the appeal, the worst-case scenario could see the AFC enforcing a ban and deducting points from the ongoing 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, in which the seven players had participated.
“Malaysia’s chances of being banned from the 2031 edition in Saudi Arabia are also highly likely if the outcome from CAS doesn’t go in our favour, especially if more evidence of document forgery surfaces.
“Should that happen, Malaysia’s FIFA ranking points will also suffer a massive drop,” the source said.
In a similar incident in 2016, FIFA found that 12 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 70,000 Swiss francs (RM368,000) and banned from international football for three years after its appeal was rejected.
The AFC also conducted a separate probe confirming that nine ineligible players had featured in 29 AFC and seven FIFA matches.
Timor-Leste was subsequently expelled from the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers, fined USD20,000 (RM84,000), and ordered to forfeit all affected matches. A suspended fine of USD56,000 (RM235,000) was also imposed.
Two officials were personally sanctioned: Justice Minister Amândio de Sá Benevides received a three-year ban and a USD9,000 (RM37,800) fine, while Gelasio De Silva Carvalho was fined USD3,000 (RM12,600) for witness interference.
The scandal severely damaged Timor-Leste’s football reputation and forced a complete overhaul of its player eligibility and naturalisation procedures before the country was allowed to compete again.
Meanwhile, AFC Secretary-General Datuk Seri Windsor Paul John said the confederation cannot interfere in FIFA’s decision to reject FAM’s appeal, as the matter now falls under CAS jurisdiction.
“For now, the AFC cannot take any action or interfere in FIFA’s decision to reject FAM’s appeal. Any follow-up action can only take place once the case is officially brought to CAS, and that process itself could take about a month,” Windsor was quoted as saying.
He explained that once the case is lodged, the overall proceedings could take several more months before a final verdict is reached.
“This is not the end of the matter, as there are still several issues FAM will have to deal with in connection to this case. We just have to wait for the process to take its course,” he said, adding that the AFC fully respects the procedures set by FIFA and CAS.
“This process gives all parties the opportunity to present their evidence and arguments to ensure a fair and transparent outcome. The AFC will continue to monitor developments but cannot make any judgments until the case is decided by CAS,” he added.
On Monday, FIFA’s Appeal Committee upheld the decision by its Disciplinary Committee to suspend seven Malaysian players and fine FAM over document falsification offences.
FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (approximately RM1.9 million), while the seven players received 12-month suspensions and were each fined 2,000 Swiss francs (around RM10,800) for breaching Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
The players involved are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vítor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Héctor Alejandro Hevel Serrano. – November 5, 2025
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