Malaysia could be heavily fined by FIFA for suspecting the origin of naturalized players

A few days ago, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) unexpectedly announced the successful naturalization of central defender Facundo Garces. This is a European-class player who is currently playing for Alaves Club in La Liga (Spain).

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Both Malaysian and Indonesian newspapers have questioned the origins of Facundo Garces, who is playing in La Liga (Photo: FAM).

Currently, Facundo Garces is valued at 1.2 million euros by Transfermarkt and is the most valuable player in the Malaysian team.

However, the origin of Facundo Garces has been a big topic of debate in Malaysia in recent days. No Malaysian newspaper has mentioned the origin of this Argentine-born midfielder.

According to FIFA regulations, a player who is naturalized and plays for another national team must have ancestry (from grandparents) or a residency period that meets the regulations. With residency, the player must live in the country where he wants to be naturalized for at least 5 consecutive years after turning 18. Facundo Garces has never played professional football in Malaysia, so he cannot guarantee the residency period.

Facundo Garces’ unclear blood relationship with Malaysia makes the story even more complicated. According to journalist Avinehwaran, Facundo Garces has a Malaysian grandmother. But this is only personal information and there is no document to verify it. The Malaysian Football Federation has not denied or confirmed the above information.

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Malaysia announced 4 naturalized players at the same time (Photo: Malaysia NT).

In the past, the Timor Leste national team was involved in a scandal related to illegal naturalization of players. In 2017, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared nine naturalized Timor Leste players invalid because they did not meet the requirements. As a result, the Timor Leste national team was banned from participating in the 2023 Asian Cup and had to change the system for finding naturalized players.

If Malaysia follows in Timor Leste’s footsteps, they could face a similar heavy penalty. Bola (Indonesia) stressed: “The naturalization process for Facundo Garces must be carried out transparently and in compliance with FIFA regulations. Otherwise, the Malaysian team could face heavy penalties from FIFA if the naturalization process for Facundo Garces is later proven to be invalid.”

Notably, right before the match with the Vietnamese team, Malaysia also welcomed a series of other naturalized players such as Imanol Machuca, Rodrigo Holgado (of Argentine origin), Joao Figueiredo (of Brazilian origin) and Jon Irazabal (of Spanish origin). These are all cases of quick naturalization like Facundo Garces, so their origins are all questioned.

The match between Vietnam and Malaysia will take place at 8pm on June 10 at Bukit Jalil Stadium. The winner of this match will have a great chance to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup.

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