FIFA overturns 3 Malaysia football matches in latest sanction over forgery scandal

KUALA LUMPUR: FIFA has overturned the results of three Malaysia matches after finding they had fielded ineligible players, in a further sanction by the sport’s world governing body as a document forgery scandal widens.

Friendly wins against Singapore and Palestine, and a draw against Cape Verde, have been overturned as 3-0 defeats, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 17).

All three matches were played at home. Malaysia drew 1-1 with Cape Verde on May 29, beat Singapore 2-1 on Sep 4 and edged Palestine 1-0 on Sep 8. 

In September, FIFA suspended seven foreign-born national team players for 12 months and fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (US$438,200) over the alleged use of falsified documents to secure their eligibility for the squad. The documents claimed they had Malaysian ancestry.

FIFA rejected FAM’s appeal in November. FAM subsequently lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The latest decision follows a FIFA disciplinary committee meeting on Dec 12, which ruled that FAM had breached its disciplinary code for fielding ineligible players.

The FIFA disciplinary committee also imposed a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs on the national football association.

In its Wednesday statement, FAM said it would submit a written request to obtain the grounds of the decision before “considering its next course of action”.

FIFA’s action is the latest setback for Malaysia football, which has come under heavy public criticism over the scandal.

The seven players involved are: Argentina-born Facundo Tomas Garces, 26, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, 30, and Imanol Javier Machuca, 25; Spain-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, 23, and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, 28; Dutch-born Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano, 29, and Brazil-born Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, 29. 

The seven naturalised footballers were given Malaysian passports in March and June this year. They had played in Malaysia’s 4-0 victory against Vietnam in an AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Jun 10, with two of them each scoring a goal. 

FIFA released a 63-page report in November, detailing the reasons for rejecting FAM’s appeal. 

According to the report, FAM and the players used forged or falsified birth certificates of the players’ grandparents to secure their eligibility to play for the national team.

Based on copies of their birth certificates FAM submitted to FIFA, the grandparents were stated to have been born in places in Malaysia, such as Penang, Melaka, Johor and Sarawak.

The same report stated that Arrocha played in the match against Cape Verde. Arrocha, Garces, Holgado, Figueiredo and Iraurgui played in the game against Singapore, with Figueiredo getting on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, Arrocha, Holgado and Figueiredo played in the match against Palestine, with Figueiredo scoring the only goal.

FIFA also said that it would launch a formal investigation into FAM’s internal operations to identify those responsible for the falsification of documents.

FAM said on Tuesday that an independent investigation committee was unable to conclusively determine whether the eligibility documents submitted to FIFA were forged, citing investigative limitations. It was also unable to identify those responsible.

The investigation committee has urged FAM to lodge a police report to allow for a full criminal investigation, local media reported.