Malaysian Football: Undeniable cheating and fairness to the Vietnamese team

Is the Malaysian Football Federation "stalling for time"?

“FIFA’s decisive decision also sends a clear message. Cheating has no place in world football. FAM will now have to start the difficult journey to restore its reputation and the trust of fans,” concluded the article in the New Straits Times (Malaysia).

FAM has been in a real race for justice recently after FIFA accused them of falsifying the records of seven naturalized players, Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. Many Malaysian fans are even willing to stay up late to wait for FIFA’s decision (originally scheduled to be announced on October 30).

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Evidence that FAM cheated is "clear as day" (Photo: NST).

However, all they got was disappointment. FIFA's final verdict was the same as the first verdict. That means that FAM's appeal efforts for a long time were in vain. In other words, they could not escape the crime of falsifying the records of 7 naturalized players.

And when all the evidence was against FAM, Malaysian fans and experts realized that the undeniable fact that the Malaysian football governing body had cheated. Even before FIFA made its final decision on November 3, the Capital de Noticias (Argentina) released fatal evidence proving that the grandfather of midfielder Facundo Garces, Carlos Rogelio Fernandez, had Argentine blood.

According to a copy of the original birth certificate provided to FIFA by the Civil Registry of Santa Fe Province (Argentina), Mr. Fernandez was born in Villa Maria Selva, Santa Fe City, more than 14,000km from Malaysia.

Mr. Fernandez’s birthplace was falsified by FAM. The original document clearly stated: “Dona Sebastiana Justa Fernandez (grandmother of Facundo Garces), 26 years old, Argentinean, residing in Villa Maria Selva, gave birth to a boy at her home at 6:30 p.m. on May 29, 1930.” In other words, Mr. Fernandez’s mother, who was also Facundo Garces’ great-grandmother, was Argentinean and had no Malaysian ancestry as FAM claimed.

Up to this point, many Malaysian experts have accepted the fact that FAM cheated. As expert Datuk Pekan Ramli stated: “We lost 0-2 to FIFA. They have all the evidence. What is puzzling is why FAM still refuses to admit their wrongdoing.

I believe that the public does not support FAM's move to continue to sue the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). If there is a poll, I believe the majority of people will think this is a waste of time and money. The possibility of FAM winning at CAS is almost zero."

This expert believes that what FAM needs to do now is to acknowledge its mistakes and reform Malaysian football, instead of trying to "fight the truth".

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Malaysian experts believe that FAM is stubborn and deliberately "against the truth" (Photo: FAM).

Sharing the same view, Astro journalist Keesh Sundaresan said that FAM's appeal to CAS was stubborn and useless. Because, throughout the past time, FAM officials only knew how to cry "technical error", but did not provide any evidence to counter FIFA's accusations.

FAM is like blowing a tiny bit of hope into the balloon. They know for sure that one day the balloon will burst but they keep blowing it bigger. Before being accused by FIFA, Malaysian football was having a beautiful reality when it won 5 consecutive matches (since the 4-0 victory over Vietnam). Perhaps, they are just trying to “buy time” because they do not want to see the beautiful reality “explode” before their eyes.

“Malaysian football has been overshadowed. FIFA’s punishment is a heavy blow to FAM’s ambitions,” Scoop warned.

Malaysia’s legal battle will continue when they take the case to CAS. They have 21 days to wait for a miracle. However, the sad reality is that since 1990, FIFA has handled hundreds of cases involving teams using players with ineligible nationality but only two cases have had their sentences reduced on appeal to CAS and none have been acquitted.

The only team that was not penalized despite FIFA finding similar violations to Malaysia was Ecuador in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Player Byron Castillo was accused of using a fake birth certificate. However, CAS said there was no basis to confirm that Byron Castillo was not a citizen of Ecuador. Because in the past, he had never changed nationality.

In the end, Ecuador had their charges reduced to using documents containing false information and was deducted three points in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The South American team had not been deducted points in previous matches that Byron Castillo had participated in.

However, this case is completely different from Malaysia. Because, although Byron Castillo was identified as born in Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, he never played for Colombia at any level. This player played for Ecuador from the U17 level to the national team. Meanwhile, the 7 naturalized Malaysian players were only naturalized quickly and had no previous connection with Malaysia.

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AFC General Secretary Windsor John is in a difficult position in this case as he is Malaysian (Photo: AFC.

Waiting for AFC to reclaim justice for Vietnam team

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is receiving special attention at the moment. Public opinion across Asia is waiting for the punishment from AFC, in the context that the Secretary General Datuk Seri Windsor John is Malaysian and at the same time the AFC headquarters is located in this country.

Last month, Mr. Windsor John hinted at the point deduction for Malaysia: “The Malaysian team and Johor Darul Tazim Club violated the rules and regulations of the AFC, so both teams will face the risk of having their points deducted according to the rules and regulations of the AFC.”

According to AFC regulations, a team that uses an ineligible player will be penalized with a 0-3 loss. If the Asian football governing body applies this penalty, Malaysia will be penalized with a loss in the two matches against Vietnam and Nepal. They will be deducted 6 points from their current level and will have almost no chance of competing for a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup with Vietnam.

If the AFC imposes the penalty in accordance with the law, Malaysian football will be seriously affected. Not only will they no longer have a chance to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup, but they will also face many unpredictable consequences when the system of using newly naturalized players is built and becomes successful.

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If AFC punishes properly, Malaysian football is at risk of collapse (Photo: FAM).

The entire Malaysian football scene will be disrupted with the penalties, their reputation in the international arena will be greatly reduced. Malaysia will have difficulty attracting quality naturalized players, and will have to rely on a football scene with a rather weak internal strength.

Of course, as a Malaysian, Mr. Windsor John never wanted that to happen, but now the AFC is under pressure to “punish” them. Remember, in recent times, there have been rumors that Japan and several other teams such as Iraq, Australia… want to form their own federation because they are not satisfied with the AFC.

According to some sources, Japan believes that the Asian football authority is biased towards Saudi Arabia and Qatar, countries that always spend a lot of money on sponsorship. Because of that, other teams always suffer injustice. The fact that Saudi Arabia and Qatar both had home field advantage in the 4th round of World Cup qualifiers (they both later won tickets to this tournament) made many opponents, typically Indonesia, feel dissatisfied.

After so many negative rumors, the AFC wants to show that they are a fair-minded organization. Therefore, the Malaysian case has received more attention.

The AFC has chosen to “sit still” after FIFA made its final decision on Malaysia. Secretary General Windsor John said: “Currently, the AFC cannot do anything and is not allowed to intervene in FIFA’s rejection of FAM’s appeal. Any further action can only be taken after the case is brought to CAS, and this process can be lengthy.”

He stressed that AFC respects the FIFA and CAS processes, ensuring that every step is in accordance with international procedures. The CAS trial also allows FAM the opportunity to fully present evidence and arguments to defend its position.

The deadline set by the AFC to impose a penalty on Malaysia is March 31, 2026, after the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers are completed. Of course, the body can make a decision earlier depending on the situation.

Anyway, Vietnamese, Nepalese and Asian fans all expect justice to be served…

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