PETALING JAYA: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will issue a press release once an operative decision is reached, with full details of the award to be published on their website unless the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) requests confidentiality.
CAS communications officer Vanessa Tracey said the panel is currently deliberating following Thursday’s (Feb 26) hearing in the high-profile case.
"Following Thursday’s hearing, the Panel will take time to deliberate. I am unable to give you a precise timeframe for a decision, but an operative decision (without grounds) is expected next week," she said.
Given the significance of the matter, Tracey confirmed that CAS will release an official statement once the operative decision is delivered and that the media will be notified when it is published.
She added that after the operative decision is rendered, a full award, including the grounds of the decision, will be prepared and issued to the parties at a later date.
Should the parties not request confidentiality, the full award will subsequently be made available on the CAS website.
Seven players - Joao Figueiredo, Facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca, Hector Hevel, Jon Irazabal, Gabriel Palmero and Rodrigo Holgado - were suspended by FIFA in September 2025 over allegations of document falsification.
Since then, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had appealed the decision made by FIFA, which was then rejected, hence the move to CAS.
On Jan 28, the players were given a temporary stay of execution by CAS, which allowed the seven players to return to competitive football with immediate effect while awaiting the final verdict of CAS on their appeal.
