When will Malaysia receive the decision to lose to Vietnam?

FIFA has made a decision on Malaysian football, and now it's time for Vietnamese fans to wait for an important decision from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Malaysia is sure to lose to Vietnam - Photo: ANH TUAN

On the evening of November 3 (Vietnam time), FIFA issued a decision on the appeal of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Accordingly, FIFA will maintain the penalty against Malaysian football.

This means that FAM will continue to receive additional penalties from the AFC, revolving around matches involving illegally naturalized players.

Specifically, those are the two matches in which Malaysia beat Nepal 2-0 (March 25) and Vietnam 4-0 (June 10) in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. Because the Asian Cup is an AFC tournament, the decision to punish will be made by the AFC.

In an initial statement when FIFA first announced the sanction against Malaysia, AFC General Secretary Windsor John (a Malaysian) hinted that the Malaysian team might not be sanctioned.

This statement by Mr. Windsor John received fierce criticism from the public. And not long after that, the General Secretary of AFC had to publicly admit that he would "deduct points from Malaysia in the Asian Cup qualifiers" if they were truly guilty.

As a rule, the use of ineligible players will result in a 0-3 loss in the matches in which these players participate.

On October 30, Mr. Windsor John made a new announcement, saying that the AFC would be ready to punish the Malaysian team immediately after the FIFA Appeal Committee made a decision.

With this statement, AFC may sanction Malaysian football from today (November 4). However, this is just a possibility, because Mr. Windsor John previously said AFC could wait until FAM appealed to CAS.

According to the regulations, FAM has 10 days to request the full judgment in writing. After receiving the notice, FAM has 21 days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS proceedings can take 1-4 weeks. This means the case could drag on until January next year.

In theory, even if the AFC announces a penalty for Malaysia at this time, the decision will only take effect after CAS has issued a conclusion. If FAM can reverse the situation, they will of course escape the AFC's penalty.

On the other hand, FAM may decide to plead guilty and not take the case to CAS. This is what the media and experts in the Malaysian football community have called for, because they do not want FAM to prolong this scandal any longer.

In that case, the AFC can sanction Malaysia, and the sanction will take effect immediately.

Malaysia is currently leading Group F in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers with 12 points, 3 points more than Vietnam.

However, the situation would be completely reversed if Malaysia were to lose both their previous wins against Nepal and Vietnam. If this happens, Malaysia would only have 6 points, while Vietnam would have 12 points, with an overwhelming head-to-head record.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khi-nao-malaysia-nhan-quyet-dinh-xu-thua-tuyen-viet-nam-2025110322105248.htm