PETALING JAYA: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) expects to hear the Court of Arbitration for Sports' (CAS) verdict on its appeal against FIFA's sanctions as early as Feb 25.
FAM secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman said those were the tentative dates given by CAS.
As of now, the seven suspended mixed heritage players have been granted a stay of execution.
“FIFA have informed the relevant member associations and confederations to immediately lift the suspension of the seven players at the domestic and continental level,” said Azman.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) secretary-general Datuk Seri Windsor Paul explained that CAS’ decision was limited to provisional measures and will not determine the outcome of the appeal.
"These players are not asking CAS to decide the substance of the case yet. They applied for provisional measures, which means a stay of execution on FIFA’s decision," Windsor said.
He said CAS assessed the application under Article R37 of their code, which requires three criteria to be satisfied.
"The first is irreparable harm. The players must show that they would suffer serious damage if the suspension is not lifted. In this case, they demonstrated they would lose a lot if they were unable to play now," he said.
The second criterion involves balancing interests. "The players must prove that the benefit to FIFA outweighs the benefit to them if the suspension continues. This is a requirement that must be fulfilled," Windsor added.
The third criterion considers whether the appeal has a reasonable chance of success.
"CAS looked at all three criteria together. The threshold is very high, and many cases fail at this stage," he said.
According to Windsor, CAS granted the stay because the players demonstrated a likelihood of irreparable harm if the suspension remained in place before a final decision.
The ruling allows the seven mixed-heritage players to resume playing with immediate effect while awaiting the CAS's final verdict on their appeal.
The ruling allows the seven players to return to competitive football with immediate effect while awaiting the final verdict of CAS on their appeal.
The players had been suspended by FIFA in Sept 2025 over allegations of document falsification.
