A waiting game: One of the mixed-heritage players for Harimau Malaya Joao Figueiredo (second from left), training with his teammates at Johor Darul Ta’zim for the Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup against Bangkok United last month. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: The fate of the seven Harimau Malaya mixedheritage players – whether they will be allowed to return to action or remain suspended – is expected to be known on Oct 30.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), through their appointed specialist sports lawyer and advisor Serg Vittoz from the firm Charles Russell Speechlys, maintained that the national football body had committed no wrongdoing and has already filed an appeal with FIFA.
Should the decision on Oct 30 not be in FAM’s favour, the association plan to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“The situation as it stands now is that the decision was issued on Sept 26, 2025. On Oct 14, within the prescribed deadline, we filed an appeal.
“We have been informed that the Appeal Committee will issue their decision on Oct 30, 2025,” said Vittoz.
“The decision will be made on Oct 30 and is expected to be communicated to the parties either on the same day or a few days later.
“If the players or FAM are not satisfied with the Appeal Committee’s decision, they may still bring the case to CAS, which will take additional time to be resolved,” added Vittoz.
Meanwhile, national team chief executive officer Rob Friend made his first public appearance in almost three weeks since the issue surfaced, clarifying that he was not involved in verifying documents related to the seven players.
Friend explained that the national team operate independently from the FAM administration and are only responsible for technical and performance matters, while all documentation and player registration processes are fully managed by FAM.
“It’s important for me to make it clear that the national team are not involved at all in handling documents. We only focus on the team’s strategy, performance and tactics,” said Friend.
So far, FAM have refused to disclose the family backgrounds of the seven players as they fear it could interfere with the ongoing investigation.
