According to FIFA, seven players competed for Malaysia with fake documents. This has drastic consequences for the players—and the association.
A 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the Asian Cup qualifiers has drastic consequences for seven players and the Malaysian Football Association. As FIFA announced on Friday, Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano have been banned from all soccer activities for 12 months.
According to the world governing body, the seven players were born abroad and provided with false documents to make them eligible to play for Malaysia, which violates Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC). Among those affected by the ban is Spanish first division club Deportivo Alaves, for whom Facundo Garces has played 16 games in La Liga since January.
In addition to the ban, each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (around 2,142 euros). Furthermore, the Malaysian association must pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (around 375,000 euros) to the world governing body.
Players and association can appeal to FIFA’s Court of Appeal
In addition, the question of the players’ eligibility to play for the Malaysian national team will be referred by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to the FIFA Court of Arbitration for Sport for review, it added.
The players and the association have ten days to request a reasoned decision. This would then also be published. They can also appeal the decision before the world governing body’s appeals committee. FIFA has left open for now whether the match against Malaysia will also be counted. After two games, Malaysia leads the qualifying group comprising Vietnam, Laos, and Nepal with six points.
