Malaysia‘s hopes of qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup are over after they were penalised by the Asian Football Confederation for fielding ineligible players in earlier victories over Nepal and Vietnam.
The sanctions from the continent’s football governing body — announced on Tuesday afternoon — come in the wake of the final verdict delivered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding the scandal surrounding the Football Association of Malaysia using falsified documents to obtain passports for seven players in order for them to be eligible to represent Harimau Malaya.
In response to the disciplinary action announced by the FAM on Tuesday, which also includes a US$50,000 fine, the FAM stated that it will “make a written request to obtain the reasons for the decision … before considering the next steps to be taken on this matter”.
On March 5, CAS partially upheld the original punishments that were imposed by FIFA on FAM and the septet in question: Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, Hector Hevel and Jon Irazábal.
In essence, the CAS agreed with FIFA that FAM and the players were guilty of the offence, saying in an official statement: “After considering the evidence, the CAS Panel found that the infraction of falsifying eligibility documents was established and that the 12-month ban from playing matches was a reasonable and proportionate sanction for the players, given their complicit responsibility in this fraud.
“However, in accordance with Article 22 FDC, the Panel decided that the ban should only apply to matches and not to all football-related activities. This means the players can resume training with their respective clubs during the ban.”
Given that it was now determined that the players were indeed ineligible to represent Malaysia, it now means that their 2-0 and 4-0 victories over Nepal and Vietnam respectively last year have been overturned to 3-0 wins to their opponents.
While Harimau Malaya were originally on top of Group F in the third and final round of the Asian Cup qualifiers by three points following five consecutive victories, they now find themselves trailing new leaders Vietnam by six points.
With just one final qualifier to go, it is now mathematically impossible for Malaysia to overtake Vietnam — who are through to Asian Cup for a third consecutive edition.
Meanwhile, Malaysia will be bitterly disappointed given they had only returned to the Asian Cup after a 16-year absence last time out in 2023 — and originally only had to avoid anything more than a four-goal defeat in their upcoming meeting with Vietnam on March 31 to seal a return.
At the time of that CAS’ final verdict was released, the FAM had said in a statement: “The outcome remains deeply disappointing, particularly for the players.
“They were not involved in the administrative process and had no knowledge of the matters related to administration.”
FAM maintains that the players had obtained Malaysia citizenship legally, although it must be noted that FIFA’s eligibility rules can differ from certain countries’ citizenship laws.
