October 8, 2025 | 06:52 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The global football body, FIFA, has just released their complete findings on the forgery of documents in the naturalization process of players by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). The findings became the basis for the sanctions imposed by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee on September 26, 2025.
The findings were severe. Therefore, FIFA did not hesitate to impose a one-year ban on playing for the seven naturalized players. Fines were also imposed on the seven players and the FAM.
What were the findings? Here are some of them, quoted from the documents released on FIFA's official website:
Chronology of the Case
The case began in mid to late March 2025 when FAM began submitting nationality eligibility applications to FIFA for several foreign players who were to be naturalized. The first application was submitted on March 19 for Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano (Netherlands), followed by Gabriel Felipe Arrocha (Spain) a day later. Both applications were accompanied by birth certificates of their grandparents stating their birth in Malaysia - whereas these documents were only issued in early January 2025.
On June 6, 2025, FAM submitted six additional applications for five other players; Facundo Tomas Garces (Argentina), Rodrigo Julian Holgado (Argentina), Imanol Javier Machuca (Argentina), Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo (Brazil), Jon Irazagamun Iraurgui (Spain).
These applications were supported by similar documents stating the birthplaces of the players' grandparents in Penang, George Town, Johor, and Kuching. FIFA initially gave the green light, stating that the players seemed eligible based on the documents sent between March 24 and June 9, 2025.
On June 10, 2025, Malaysian national team fielded the seven players in the 2027 Asia Cup qualifying match against Vietnam. Malaysia won the match 4-0, with two of the naturalized players scoring goals.
The next day, on June 11, FIFA received an official complaint questioning the legitimacy of their naturalization. The anonymous complainant stated that there were reasons to believe that certain foreign-born players were not eligible to represent Malaysia. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee Secretariat then conducted an investigation.
FIFA's Findings and Conclusions
An investigation by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee Secretariat revealed striking inconsistencies between the documents submitted by FAM and the original birth certificates obtained from the players' grandparents' home countries. Specifically:
Grandmother of Gabriel Arrocha was stated to be born in Malacca, but the original document shows she was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain.
- Facundo Garcs' grandfather was claimed to be born in Penang, whereas he was born in Argentina.
- Rodrigo Holgado's grandfather was said to be from George Town, but he was born in Caseros, Argentina.
- Imanol Machuca's grandfather was stated to be from Penang, but he was born in Roldn, Argentina.
- Joao Figueiredo's grandmother was said to be from Johor, but she was born in Abre Campo, Brazil.
- Jon Irazabal's grandfather was said to be from Kuching, but he was born in Guernica, Spain.
- Hector Hevel's grandfather was said to be from Malacca Straits Settlements, but he was born in The Hague, Netherlands.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee concluded that the documents submitted by FAM had been deliberately forged or altered to circumvent Article 7 of FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which require direct lineage to the country being represented. FIFA rejected FAM's argument that this violation was merely "formal". They affirmed that these forged documents were crucial to eligibility. Without this data manipulation, the players would not have met the requirements for naturalization.
FIFA emphasized that this violation was not just an administrative error, but an act that undermined the integrity and fairness of international competitions.
FIFA's Imposed Penalties
In decision number FDD-24394, signed by FIFA Disciplinary Committee's Vice Chairman Jorge Palacio on September 25, 2025, and officially notified on September 26, the following sanctions were imposed:
- FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (approximately Rp6.4 billion), or CHF 50,000 per player.
- Each of the seven players was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (approximately Rp41 million).
- The seven players were banned from all football activities-both competitive and non-competitive-for 12 months as of the date of the decision being notified.
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