“Questions have been raised about the legal status of the Malaysian national team’s naturalized players, particularly in the case of Argentine-born centre-back Facundo Garces and Spanish-born defender Jon Irazabal,” the Malaysian English-language newspaper The Star reported.
Malaysian press confirms their national team will not be punished by FIFA (Photo: Getty).
“Furthermore, there are Argentine-born winger Imanol Machuca, Brazilian-born playmaker Jose Figueiredo and Argentine-born striker Rodrigo Holgado. The origins of these players have been questioned. However, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Joehari has been quick to quash these suspicions,” The Star added.
The Star also confirmed that the naturalization records of the above players have been carefully assessed by FIFA. They believe in the prestige of the World Football Federation.
The Malaysian newspaper continued: “Despite the off-field controversy, related to the issue of naturalized players and recent unbridled statements by coach Petr Cklamovski, the excellent performance of the Malaysian team against the Vietnamese team put Hariamu Malaya in a strong position for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.”
Meanwhile, another Malaysian newspaper, the New Straits Times, confirmed: “The backgrounds of the newly naturalized players Facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca, Jon Irazabal, Joao Figueiredo and Rodrigo Holgado have been assessed by FIFA.”
The issue of naturalized Malaysian players has become noisy in recent days (Photo: Getty).
“These players have now been cleared by FIFA from the suspect list. Malaysian Football and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) affirm that they have no reason to conceal information about these players,” New Straits Times confidently said.
Furthermore, Malaysia’s leading English-language daily newspaper further emphasized: “FAM always prioritizes transparency. This organization will not take shortcuts in naturalizing foreign players. The selection of players and the verification of player qualifications must comply with international regulations.”
At the same time, the ASEAN Football website, which specializes in Southeast Asian football, reported: "Up to now, there have been no official sanctions issued by FIFA and AFC, related to allegations that naturalized Malaysian players violated the rules in the process of receiving new citizenship."
“Football in Southeast Asia is still waiting for an official statement from the relevant parties,” ASEAN Football added.
One notable detail is that Malaysia is home to the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF).
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-malaysia-tiet-lo-phan-quyet-cua-fifa-ve-vu-gian-lan-cau-thu-nhap-tich-20250702231338211.htm
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