Malaysian football is at risk of being banned by FIFA until 2027, canceling the victory over the Vietnamese team?

Malaysia remains silent on new allegations

New Straits Times reported on July 21 that an Indonesian football expert, Justinus Lhaksana, commonly known as Coach Justin, revealed through his recent podcast on YouTube channel HY Sport: "Malaysian football has been suspended by FIFA until 2027 for using fake naturalized players. The country's U.23 team still participates in the Southeast Asian U.23 tournament because this is a tournament not in the FIFA system."

Malaysian football is at risk of being banned by FIFA until 2027, canceling the victory over the Vietnamese team? - Photo 1.

The issue of naturalized Malaysian players with unclear origins continues to be controversial and has new developments - Photo: Ngoc Linh

This information is shocking, Malaysia's Timesport page has contacted FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) for comment. But up to now, this football body has not responded to the new development and is still controversial, according to New Straits Times .

Previously, FAM had denied all similar accusations from the Indonesian press, claiming that the Malaysian team was being investigated by FIFA regarding the origin of naturalized players and would be punished with a 0-3 loss to the Vietnamese team from the 4-0 win in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10, banned from competition and fined up to 2 million USD...

The incident was temporarily quieted down on July 4 when the General Secretary of the AFC (Asian football body), Mr. Seri Windsor Paul, a Malaysian, spoke out to deny rumors that Malaysian football was being investigated for using ineligible players, and confirmed that the AFC had not received any complaints related to the match on June 10. "Matters of playing conditions are entirely under the jurisdiction of FIFA," Mr. Seri Windsor Paul added.

FAM general secretary Noor Azman Rahman also denied any wrongdoing, stressing that the federation had fully complied with international guidelines and had not received any notice from FIFA or the AFC.

Malaysian football is at risk of being banned by FIFA until 2027, canceling the victory over the Vietnamese team? - Photo 2.

Coach Cklamovski's decision to withdraw the Malaysian team from the Central Asian Championship has raised questions and speculations about what else might have gone wrong - Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, this issue has been revived once again through the latest developments, such as the sudden withdrawal of the Malaysian team from the Central Asian Championship - CAFA Nations Cup 2025, with the decision made by coach Peter Cklamovski, not by federation officials or the team's CEO, Mr. Rob Friend.

This has raised questions from the Malaysian public and press, who believe that there must be other issues behind it, not because of the reasons that the tournament is not on the FIFA Days schedule, the players cannot be called up, logistical and financial issues as stated. Because, these reasons are not convincing, FAM knew all the tournament schedules in advance and had committed to participating since the victory over the Vietnamese team, New Straits Times reported.

Meanwhile, Indonesian football expert Justinus Lhaksana affirmed: "Malaysia has definitely been suspended by FIFA for using naturalized players with fake origins. FAM believes that the five South American players they recently naturalized and used in the victory over Vietnam have Malaysian ancestry. If that is true, it will be easy to prove it with documents. If not, it looks like they are playing according to the system. And it seems like they will be appealed."

Malaysia's recently naturalized players include Facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca, Jon Irazabal, Joao Figueiredo and Rodrigo Holgado, with the majority coming from Argentina and Brazil. They were the decisive factors in helping the Malaysian team beat Vietnam 4-0. But according to Justinus Lhaksana: "The origin of these players has almost no connection with Malaysia. FAM is just circumventing international laws to naturalize these South American players in a suspicious way."

Justinus Lhaksana also said: "Indonesian football also has massive naturalisation. But the verification of the origin of the players is very strict and follows the regulations. We trace the ancestry of a player back two or three generations, with birth certificates and everything. Look at our players - Shayne Pattynama, Joey Pelupessy, Ragnar Oratmangoen, Stefano Lilipaly, even Emil Audero - they are clearly of Indonesian blood."

These statements by Justinus Lhaksana have caused a stir on social media, especially with Malaysian football public opinion, at a time when many controversies about over-reliance on naturalized players are still simmering, and the event of the country's team suddenly withdrawing from the Central Asian tournament is still controversial.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bong-da-malaysia-co-nguy-co-bi-fifa-cam-den-nam-2027-huy-tran-thang-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-185250721085557846.htm