The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has partially allowed the appeal by seven heritage players of the Malaysian national football team, Harimau Malaya, in relation to sanctions imposed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) over falsified naturalisation and eligibility documents.
In an operational ruling issued on Wednesday — without detailed grounds — the CAS panel decided that the seven players will still serve a 12-month suspension. However, the ban will apply only to official matches and not to all football-related activities.
“After reviewing the evidence presented, the CAS panel found that the offence of falsifying eligibility documents had been established. A 12-month suspension from matches is considered an appropriate and proportionate sanction given the players’ joint involvement in the deception,” the statement said.
The players involved are Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel.
Players Allowed To Train With Clubs
In line with Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), the panel ruled that the suspension will apply only to official matches and related competitions.
As a result, the affected players are still permitted to continue training with their respective clubs during the suspension period.
“The ban from playing matches takes effect from today, March 5, 2026, taking into account the period between September 25, 2025 and January 26, 2026 when the suspension had already been effectively served,” the statement added.
FAM’s RM1.8 Million Fine Maintained
Meanwhile, CAS also ruled that the fine of CHF350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million) imposed by FIFA on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) remains appropriate and will stand.
The CAS panel confirmed that both FAM and the players filed a consolidated appeal with the arbitration body on December 5, 2025.
In its submission, FAM acknowledged the presence of “institutional weaknesses” and did not rule out the possibility that the organisation bore responsibility for breaches of the FDC.
“It also stated that the players had only a limited role in preparing the documents requested by FAM and did not personally create or alter the documents,” the statement said.
FAM had appealed for the FIFA Appeal Committee’s decision to be overturned, proposing that any penalty imposed should not exceed CHF50,000 (about RM253,000).
The players, meanwhile, sought a full cancellation of the ruling or a reduced sanction, arguing that they did not act with intent or negligence.
Hearing Held In Switzerland
The appeals were jointly reviewed by a CAS arbitration panel chaired by Lars Hilliger of Denmark, alongside José Luis Andrade of Portugal and Massimo Coccia of Italy.
A face-to-face hearing took place on February 26 at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
CAS clarified that the ruling released today represents an operational decision, with the full written award and detailed reasoning to be issued at a later date.
Background Of The Case
In September last year, FIFA confirmed that FAM and the seven players had breached Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code by submitting falsified documentation.
Investigations found that FAM had provided documents believed to be falsified to verify the players’ eligibility, enabling them to feature in Malaysia’s 4-0 victory over Vietnam during the Group F match of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in June last year.
FIFA subsequently fined FAM CHF350,000 (about RM1.8 million), while each player was fined CHF2,000 (around RM11,000) and handed a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities.
Hopes for a reduced punishment were dashed when the FIFA Appeal Committee rejected the appeal by FAM and the players on November 3 last year, upholding the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee over the serious breach of Article 22 of the FDC.
