Is the penalty for Malaysia too lenient?

The issue of Malaysia using several players who had been naturalized illegally remains controversial.

On the afternoon of March 17th, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced that it had received a penalty from the AFC related to the use of ineligible players in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. According to the conclusion of the AFC Disciplinary & Ethics Committee, FAM was found to have violated Article 56 of the rules.

The two matches that resulted in a 0-3 loss were the 2-0 victory against Nepal (March 25, 2025) and the 4-0 victory against Vietnam (June 10, 2025). In addition to having their results annulled, Malaysia also had to pay a fine of USD 50,000 under Article 25.1 of the AFC Disciplinary Regulations.

However, many Southeast Asian fans believe the AFC's penalty against Malaysia is still too lenient. Many cite the case of the East Timor national team in 2017, when they were unable to continue competing internationally after being found to have violated naturalization regulations.

In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and the 2019 Asian Cup, East Timor fielded nine Brazilian players but registered them as "naturalized players" using forged documents. The matter was quickly discovered by the AFC and FIFA, leading to an unprecedented penalty in the history of regional football.

The East Timor national team has been banned from participating in the next Asian Cup (2023). All 29 matches played by East Timor (mostly in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers and other tournaments) have been canceled. The results of these matches have been changed to a 0-3 loss for their opponents.

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The East Timor national team received a very heavy penalty.

The country's football federation was fined over $76,000. The AFC banned the General Secretary of the East Timor Football Federation, Amandio de Araujo Sarmento, from participating in all football-related activities for three years. FIFA subsequently extended this ban worldwide . Another official, Gelasio De Silva Carvalho, was also banned from participating in football for two years.

According to sources from SNE , the AFC believes that the cases involving East Timor and Malaysia differ in nature and severity of violations, and therefore the same form of punishment cannot be applied.

The East Timorese players were found to have failed to meet the eligibility requirements to represent the country for an extended period. The AFC also assessed the severity of the violations by the East Timorese Football Federation as more serious than those of Malaysia.

The AFC's decision regarding Malaysia was made after careful consideration of the records, documents, and opinions from all relevant parties, including FIFA. They noted that the Malaysian players were all legally registered and fully met the conditions under FIFA regulations at the time of participation.