PETALING JAYA: The FIFA Appeal Committee have rejected arguments by seven players suspended in the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) mixed heritage scandal, ruling that they were not passive victims but benefitted directly from forged documents that enabled them to represent Malaysia.
In their motivated decision released on Tuesday (Nov 18) morning, the committee stated that the players’ claim that FAM were responsible for the entire naturalisation and eligibility process "fails to recognise a fundamental legal and factual truth: the beneficiary of a naturalisation process is the individual being naturalised."
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The committee found that while FAM oversaw procedural steps, players Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Hector Hevel, Jon Irazabal, Rodrigo Holgado and Imanol Machuca were active participants who submitted personal and ancestral documents, signed application forms, appeared before Malaysian authorities and accepted Malaysian passports.
These actions, they said, obligated them to verify the authenticity of the documents and the legitimacy of the process.
The decision noted that none of the players read the documents they signed, checked the paperwork submitted on their behalf, or asked questions about their eligibility even after disciplinary proceedings began.
Their conduct was described as "wilful blindness" and "gross negligence".
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The committee also questioned the players’ insistence that they believed they were eligible through Malaysian grandparents, despite having "no genuine affiliation" with the country.
They said a reasonable professional would have questioned how they could represent a nation with which they had no connection.
FIFA stated that the forged documents were the sole basis for the players’ eligibility and that without them, they would not have been cleared to play.
The absence of any attempt to identify who forged the documents or how they were produced was deemed "inexplicable", suggesting a lack of accountability.
The committee also rejected the argument that the players had no motive to pursue Malaysian nationality, noting their willingness to submit documents, sign forms and appear in official matches.
Concluding that the players acted with "severe negligence" and demonstrated "deliberate carelessness", they upheld sanctions for their use and benefit from forged documentation in obtaining Malaysian citizenship.
