The Court of Arbitration for Sport will decide the fate of FAM and seven heritage players in late February over FIFA’s document falsification sanctions.
PETALING JAYA: The Football Association of Malaysia and seven national heritage players will learn their fate from the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the end of February.
FAM Secretary-General Datuk Noor Azman Rahman confirmed the appeal decision is expected on February 25 and 26. He made the statement following a special FAM Executive Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya.
FAM submitted its appeal to CAS last December after FIFA upheld severe sanctions. The global body found FAM and the players breached Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code regarding document falsification.
Investigations revealed FAM submitted allegedly falsified documents to verify player eligibility. This allowed the players to feature in a 4-0 win over Vietnam in Asian Cup qualifiers last June.
FIFA fined FAM CHF350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million) over the incident. Each of the seven players received a CHF2,000 (around RM11,000) fine and a 12-month suspension from football.
FIFA’s Appeal Committee rejected initial appeals from FAM and the players on November 3. CAS has since granted a Stay of Execution for the seven heritage players.
This stay allows the players to continue their careers pending the final CAS verdict. The players involved are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Manchuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.
Earlier today, all members of the FAM Executive Committee for the 2025-2029 term resigned collectively. The committee stated the move was made to uphold organisational responsibility and protect FAM’s integrity.
