AFC announced to take strong action against Malaysian football, only waiting for FIFA

Speaking to Malaysian media this afternoon (October 30), AFC General Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor Paul John said: “We are currently waiting for the decision of FIFA or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). After FIFA announces the results of Malaysia’s appeal, if Malaysia does not file a lawsuit with CAS, FIFA’s decision will be final.”

“In the event that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) files a lawsuit with CAS, the CAS decision will be final. This final decision will be forwarded to the AFC and we will base our decision on it,” added AFC Windsor General Secretary Paul John.

AFC tuyên bố xử lý mạnh tay với bóng đá Malaysia, chỉ còn chờ FIFA - 1 — AFC Windsor General Secretary Paul John declared that there is no way the AFC will condone violations by Malaysian football if FIFA has an official conclusion (Photo: AFP).

Also according to the analysis of the person who is holding the management role at the Asian Football Confederation, CAS will also have a first instance trial and an appeal trial (if FAM appeals the result of the first instance trial), AFC will wait for the final result of the final trial, before handling the case.

“There is a possibility that CAS will handle this case twice (first instance and appeal), depending on how FAM pursues the case. However, the AFC is only concerned with one issue, which is whether the naturalized Malaysian players are eligible to play or not, and whether they used fake documents or not?”, shared AFC Windsor General Secretary Paul John.

The statement of AFC Windsor General Secretary Paul John has almost clarified the next reaction of the Asian Football Confederation to Malaysian football. There is no way that the AFC will ignore FAM and the group of 7 players Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel, if they lose the lawsuit at FIFA and CAS.

The announcement by Windsor Paul John also stunned the Malaysian media. The New Straits Times commented: “The position of the Malaysian team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers will now be affected. The players found using dubious records played in two matches, including the 2-0 win over Nepal on March 25 and the 4-0 win over Vietnam on June 10.”

AFC tuyên bố xử lý mạnh tay với bóng đá Malaysia, chỉ còn chờ FIFA - 2 — The Malaysian team may be penalized for losing to the Vietnamese team (Photo: NST).

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee later discovered irregularities in the registration records of the aforementioned players. FIFA initially determined that they used fake records to play for the Malaysian national team,” the New Straits Times added.

After FIFA issued its initial ruling in late September, FAM and the seven players involved appealed in mid-October. FIFA is expected to announce the results of the appeal by the end of today.

After the appeal results, FAM and the group of 7 players Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel will decide whether they will continue to appeal to CAS or not.

AFC Windsor General Secretary Paul John revealed: “Everything will be clear before March 31, 2026 (the end date of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers). We must know the results of the trial and give our verdict before that date, because it is related to the draw for the final round of the Asian Football Championship”.

“Before 31/32/2026, AFC must know which team will qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals, from Malaysia's qualifying group (group F, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal and Laos)”, is still the statement of Mr. Windsor Paul John.