PETALING JAYA, Jan 28 — The fate of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven national heritage players over the International Association Football Federation's (FIFA) sanctions will be known after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) delivers its decision at the end of next month.
This was confirmed by the FAM's secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman when asked about the latest developments in the governing body’s appeal process to CAS.
“(As for CAS, on February 25 and February 26, we are awaiting the decision,” he said during a media conference following a Special Meeting of the FAM Executive Committee at Wisma FAM, Kelana Jaya today.
In December last year, the FAM confirmed it had submitted a Statement of Appeal to CAS regarding the FIFA sanctions imposed on the association and the seven heritage players of the Harimau Malaya squad.
Earlier, in September, FIFA confirmed that the FAM and seven players: Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Manchuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel, were found to have breached Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) over document falsification offences.
Investigations found that the FAM had submitted documents believed to be falsified to verify the eligibility of the players, allowing them to feature in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam in Group F of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in June last year.
Following this, the FAM was ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.8 million), while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (RM11,000) and suspended from all football-related activities for 12 months.
Hopes of having the sanctions reduced were dashed after FIFA’s Appeal Committee on November 3 rejected the appeals by the FAM and all seven players, thereby upholding the Disciplinary Committee’s decision regarding the serious breach of Article 22 FDC.
However, yesterday, the FAM said that the CAS had granted a Stay of Execution requested by the seven players, allowing them to continue their careers and participate in football-related activities until the final appeal decision is made.
Earlier today, all members of the FAM Executive Committee (Exco) for the 2025-2029 term tendered their collective resignations, voluntarily and with immediate effect.
Azman said the move was made unanimously, taking into account organisational responsibility and without regard to personal interests or positions, and represents a prudent and principled step in light of the current situation that has drawn public attention, among other aims, to protect the FAM's integrity.
