Argentine newspaper releases more evidence against Malaysian football

Last night (October 31), Argentina's Capital de Noticias news portal released another report, stating that Malaysian national team attacking midfielder Imanol Machuca has completely Argentine ancestors, not Malaysian.

According to Capital de Noticias, Imanol Machuca's grandmother was born in Roldan, Santa Fe province (Argentina), not in Penang (Malaysia), as reported by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to the World Football Federation (FIFA), regarding the player's application for naturalization.

Báo Argentina tung thêm bằng chứng bất lợi với bóng đá Malaysia - 1 — Argentine newspaper claims that midfielder Imanol Machuca's grandmother was born in Santa Fe (Argentina), not in Penang (Malaysia), as FAM reported to FIFA (Photo: NST).

This is another "blow" that has stunned Malaysian football. Just one day before, on the night of October 30, Argentina's Capital de Noticias news portal released evidence showing that the grandfather of midfielder Facundo Garces was born in the village of Villa Maria Selva, Santa Fe province (Argentina).

This information is completely different from the information FAM provided to FIFA, that Facundo Garces' grandfather was born in Penang (Malaysia). Capital de Noticias even provided the exact date of birth of Facundo Garces' grandfather as May 29, 1930. At the same time, they also informed who Facundo Garces' great-grandmother was, where she lived, and what her family situation was like.

These are details that prove that the Argentine news channel thoroughly investigated the background of the naturalized Malaysian midfielder.

Immediately after Argentina's Capital de Noticias newspaper published the above information, yesterday afternoon (October 31), FAM Acting President Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi criticized the Argentine press for providing false information, confusing the Malaysian football situation.

Báo Argentina tung thêm bằng chứng bất lợi với bóng đá Malaysia - 2 — The new information was released by the Argentine press just hours after FAM Acting President Mohd Yusoff Mahadi publicly criticized the media in the land of tango for providing false information (Photo: Harian Metro).

Immediately, in the evening of the same day, the Capital de Noticias portal continued to release evidence, proving that the next player in the group of 7 naturalized Malaysian players is attacking midfielder Imanol Machuca whose ancestors were born in Argentina, as mentioned above.

Faced with a series of unfavorable information shared by international media, Malaysia's The Star newspaper had to exclaim: "The appeal process of Malaysian football to FIFA, regarding the case of 7 naturalized players who are currently banned from playing, seems unlikely to be successful, after the Argentine media revealed new evidence."

“This evidence contradicts the claims about the ancestral origins of the naturalized players involved. The findings by the Argentine press appear to further support FIFA’s earlier ruling that the seven Malaysian naturalized players used false documents.

There are still five more players in the group of seven naturalized players who are suspended, including Rodrigo Holgado (of Argentine origin), Jon Irazabal and Gabriel Palmero (Spain), Joao Figueiredo (Brazil) and Hector Hevel (Netherlands),” The Star continued to write in confusion, worried that at some point, there will be more evidence from other agencies, about the real origins of these people.

Currently, FIFA is preparing to conduct a hearing with the 7 players involved, before the World Football Federation concludes on the appeal of Malaysian football.