PETALING JAYA: Football stakeholders are awaiting an official response from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) following the verdict by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the eligibility case involving seven players.
Officials from the Malaysian Football League (MFL) and the national team said they would wait for FAM’s statement before commenting on the possible implications after CAS's decision.
A source close to MFL said the league body would only provide an update once FAM had responded.
"MFL will wait for FAM to issue a statement before we release any updates on the situation," said the source.
MFL are involved in the matter as their affiliated clubs — Johor Darul Ta’zim and Kuching City — had fielded some of the suspended players in domestic competitions.
The players from the two clubs are Joao Figueiredo, Hector Hevel and Jon Irazabal from JDT, as well as Gabriel Palmero from Kuching City.
CAS on Thursday partially upheld an appeal by seven footballers sanctioned for falsifying documents in an eligibility case involving FAM, ruling that their suspension will apply only to official matches.
In a decision issued in Lausanne, CAS confirmed that the players will still serve a 12-month ban but amended the earlier sanction imposed by FIFA, allowing them to continue training and participating in other football-related activities with their clubs.
The seven players involved are Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Figueiredo, Palmero, Irazabal and Hevel.
However, a separate appeal by FAM was dismissed, meaning the governing body must still pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.8mil).
A source close to the national team also said they had also been instructed to wait for FAM’s official statement before issuing a response.
"We have been briefed to wait for FAM’s statement first. After that, we will release our own media statement. I think it is the proper approach for FAM to address the matter first before we follow up, especially with the match against Vietnam coming up," said the source.
Malaysia will play Vietnam in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 third-round qualifiers at the Nam Dinh Stadium on March 31.
FAM have indicated that it will release an official statement on the matter.
