Some suspended “heritage” footballers’ Malaysian passport application was approved on the same day that they submitted their forms, said the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa).
Fifa’s appeals committee said that the passport applications for Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui were submitted and approved on June 3, while the same happened to Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano on March 18.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Felipe Arrocha submitted his on March 17, and Facundo Tomas Garces Rattaro on June 1; their applications were subsequently approved on March 18 and June 3, respectively.
They added that the players had filed two separate applications for citizenship via the naturalisation process.
“The first application was ‘considered for special approval’, and the Home Ministry instructed the Malaysian National Registration Department to ‘receive and process’ the players’ citizenship application after they received an entry permit to the country, which they did.
“The players subsequently appeared before Malaysian authorities and submitted a second application for their naturalisation, this time presenting their entire paperwork with the relevant forms (the second application),” the appeals committee said in its report.
Fifa said that the application documents contained each player’s signatures and thumbprints as well as a cover letter, indicating that three recent passport-sized photographs, an application registration fee, an identity card, an entry permit, and travel documents were attached.
“(However), none of the application files contained any ancestry documents in respect of the players, (which were the) birth certificates of parents or grandparents.”
Fifa then said that the details of the players’ ancestry were submitted by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to them during the federation’s inquiry regarding the players’ eligibility.
No BM proficiency
In the same ruling, Fifa revealed that the suspended footballers had told them that they did not speak Bahasa Malaysia, despite FAM’s claims that they passed the requisite Bahasa Malaysia test for their citizenship application.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat, on Oct 9, that he had used his discretion regarding the players’ residency requirement, and claimed that all players had met all criteria, including proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia.
The players were all scouted in 2024, with the naturalisation process initiated later that year. - Mkini
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