Having dismissed the appeal by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven “heritage” players who had been granted Malaysian citizenship, the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) issued, inter alia, the following statement.
“The Fifa appeal committee has rendered its decision... after analysing all submissions and conducting the hearing, the committee decided to dismiss the appeals and confirm the sanctions in full," it said yesterday.
By virtue of the decision made by the world football governing body’s appellate committee, it can be safely concluded that it has essentially reaffirmed the earlier ruling by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee (FDC) on Sept 26, which alleged forgery and document falsification.
In its earlier verdict, the FDC had found serious discrepancies between the birth certificates submitted by FAM and the originals obtained by Fifa, revealing, among other things, that the players’ grandparents were not actually born in Malaysia.
In other words, as far as Fifa is concerned, the claim that the players' grandparents were born in Malaysia does not hold water. Fifa believed there was an allegedly mendacious representation of fact.
There is yet another juicy story - it was also reported that FAM, according to the FDC, was given one month, from Aug 22 to Sept 22, to explain the incident, but it failed to do so, resulting in a relatively stiff penalty.
If that is the case, FAM or the relevant ministry should publicly explain why it failed to provide a response to the FDC over the alleged embarrassing incident, as Malaysians are entitled to know the reason.
FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.9 million), whereas the seven players were each fined 2,000 Swiss francs. The players were also suspended for 12 months.
Blow to M’sian football
The latest ruling by the Fifa appeal committee drives home the message that, in its view, there were no appealable errors in the FDC’s finding that FAM was guilty of fraud for allegedly falsifying documents.
It goes without saying that the said decision - now upheld by the Fifa appeal committee - is a significant blow to Malaysian football, although it may not be the final verdict as FAM can still lodge a final appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Ardent football fans may now wonder what impact the latest ruling will have. Is Malaysia still permitted to play in the upcoming 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers?
At present, Malaysia remains eligible to compete in the qualifiers. However, there is a strong possibility that the team may have to forfeit its victories in matches against Nepal and Vietnam for fielding ineligible players.
Malaysian fans can still heave a sigh of relief for now, as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will only make the final decision on the match results after FAM has exhausted all of its legal avenues.
According to media reports, FAM is keen to lodge its final appeal with CAS.
If CAS also rejects the appeal, will the government be prepared to establish a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to conduct a full and transparent investigation into this humiliating scandal? - Mkini
HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy minister.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT,
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