Malaysia accused of hiding origin of naturalized players, FAM President speaks out

The unusual situation of Malaysian football

"The foreign-born naturalized players came to Kuala Lumpur, played for the Malaysian team and returned to their home country, right after the 4-0 win over Vietnam in the second round of the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup on June 10.

Malaysia accused of hiding origin of naturalized players, FAM President speaks out - Photo 1.

Malaysian football faces an unusual situation because naturalized players have their origins hidden, no one knows where they come from... - Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, until now, the debate about their ancestry, lineage, and connection to Malaysia has not subsided. In fact, this is an unusual situation, something that Malaysian football has never experienced before. Some Malaysian fans cannot pronounce the names of their national players, some have problems remembering who is who and where they come from," New Straits Times expressed.

"Many fans have accused the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) of deliberately keeping the lineage of these naturalized players a secret, claiming that there is some very suspicious ambiguity. If there is a mistake, only Malaysian football will have to suffer the consequences," New Straits Times emphasized.

This is well-founded, as suspicions also come from many sides, as public opinion even in Malaysia was surprised by the speed of naturalization of 5 foreign-origin players of Harimau Malaya recently from Argentina, Spain and Brazil. Those who are considered to have very little chance of having Malaysian parents or grandparents are Facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca, Jon Irazabal, Joao Figueiredo and Rodrigo Holgado.

These players played an important role for the Malaysian team in the resounding 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the Asian Cup qualifiers at Bukit Jalil Stadium last month. Instead of being happy about the impressive victory, many Malaysian fans sighed, expressing doubts about the strength of the team with the majority of naturalized players, many of whom they could not pronounce correctly, were unfamiliar with and did not remember who they were and where they came from, according to the New Straits Times .

Malaysia accused of hiding the origin of naturalized players, FAM President speaks out - Photo 2.

Coach Peter Cklamovski (middle) made a shocking statement regarding a naturalized Malaysian player and was asked by the FAM President to explain - Photo: Ngoc Linh

This has been simmering, recently the regional press has continued to assert that FAM has concealed the origins of naturalized players, even accusing them of fraudulent acts of falsifying documents to deceive FIFA. Thanks to that, these naturalized players were quickly naturalized and soon qualified to play for the Malaysian team thanks to their grandparents' origins.

"In fact, FAM has so far not disclosed the lineage of these naturalised players or said how they have ties to Malaysia, leaving fans in the dark," the New Straits Times added.

Recently, FAM President Joehari Ayub spoke up and confirmed that the 5 Malaysian players who were naturalized in June had been properly examined by FIFA and had completely cleared their backgrounds. He also confirmed that FAM had no reason to hide any information.

"We do not take this matter lightly. FIFA has checked everything and at FAM, we are just following the procedures and instructions set by them. If we need to disclose, we do not hesitate to do so," Mr. Joehari Ayub emphasized.

According to Mr. Joehari Ayub, FAM always prioritizes transparency and will not take shortcuts when recruiting foreign players, especially regarding eligibility conditions and compliance with international regulations. "If there are any problems, FIFA will not approve. In this case, everything has been clarified and followed the correct procedures," he concluded.

FAM President also said: "We know that if we do wrong, it will be a serious crime. FAM will face extremely severe penalties from FIFA. However, we are very confident that there will be no problems, because all naturalized Malaysian players have been recognized by FIFA and that is enough for FAM."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/malaysia-bi-to-cao-che-giau-nguon-goc-cau-thu-nhap-tich-chu-tich-fam-len-tieng-185250702083629617.htm