KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 17): Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) has sanctioned the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), overturning three match results and imposing a new financial penalty for fielding ineligible players in the national team, Harimau Malaya.
FAM in a statement said Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee has ruled that Malaysia violated Article 19 of the FIFA Code of Ethics (2025 Edition) by fielding ineligible players in three Tier 1 international friendlies, resulting in all three matches being declared 3-0 defeats.
The affected matches were Malaysia’s 1-1 draw against Cape Verde on May 29, a 2-1 win over Singapore on Sept 4, and a 1-0 victory against Palestine on Sept 8, all of which have now been overturned by Fifa.
Fifa also imposed a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (about RM51,414) on FAM for breaching Article 19 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code (2025 edition), which relates to the fielding of ineligible players.
“The FAM will submit a written request to obtain the reasons for the decision from the Fifa Disciplinary Committee before considering the next steps to be taken in relation to this matter,” the association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The latest ruling adds to a growing list of sanctions faced by FAM, following Fifa’s earlier disciplinary action over forged or falsified eligibility documents involving seven foreign-born Harimau Malaya players.
In September this year, Fifa fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.9 million) and imposed 12-month suspensions on the seven players, alongside separate fines on each individual.
The seven players are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, 23, Facundo Tomas Garces, 26, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, 30, Imanol Javier Machuca, 25, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, 29, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, 28, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano, 29.
In November, Fifa’s Appeal Committee upheld the sanctions and ordered a formal investigation into FAM’s internal operations and directed that criminal authorities in Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and Spain be notified of potential offences, citing that forgery constitutes a criminal offence in those jurisdictions.
The Appeal Committee in its 63-page decision found that FAM had submitted altered birth certificates to Fifa to falsely indicate that the players’ grandparents were born in Malaysia in order to satisfy Fifa’s “grandfather rule” for national team eligibility.
It said the falsifications were not incidental but amounted to a deliberate mechanism to circumvent eligibility rules and noted that FAM had yet to demonstrate meaningful remedial action or accountability.
FAM is appealing the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The fresh sanctions come a day after an independent investigation committee (IIC) established by FAM recommended internal disciplinary proceedings against suspended FAM secretary general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman and called for wide-ranging governance and compliance reforms.
The IIC also urged FAM to lodge a police report for a formal criminal probe after concluding it lacked the statutory powers to determine whether the disputed documents were forged and to compel testimonies from the seven players' agents and a notary public involved in the case.
FAM has said its executive committee will convene a special meeting on Dec 22 (Monday) to deliberate on the findings and decide on further action, as the association continues to face mounting pressure over governance failures and regulatory compliance.
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