GENEVA (AP) — The Malaysian Football Association on Thursday rejected an appeal against misconduct. FIFA rules on cheating By naturalizing foreign-born players to the men’s national team using fake documents.
of The Court of Arbitration for Sport stated: The judge fined the FA 350,000 Swiss francs (approximately $450,000) and suspended seven players for one year “for their complicity in this misconduct.”
The players were given Malaysian passports and were selected to be part of the team that defeated Vietnam 4-0 in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers in June last year. This victory should be overturned by the Asian Football Confederation.
“The CAS Committee finds that the offense of falsifying eligibility documents has been committed and that a 12-month ban from competition is a reasonable and proportionate sanction for the players,” the court said.
However, the court ruled that FIFA’s punishment should be relaxed and the players should be allowed to take part in training and football activities outside of matches until their suspensions expire.
The court said the Malaysian Football Association acknowledged “institutional deficiencies” and did not dispute that it could be liable for breaching FIFA’s disciplinary rules.
“The players also had a limited role in providing the documents requested by (the federation) and did not create or modify the documents,” CAS said.
fake new employee
The five players suspended are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, John Irazabal Iraurgui, Facundo Tomas Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vitor Brandao Figueiredo and Hector Alejandro Jevel Serrano.
They were selected to help the Malaysian team Currently ranked 121st In the FIFA ranking of 211 men’s national teams. Malaysia has never qualified for the World Cup and finished last in their group at the 2023 Asian Cup after going winless in three games.
FIFA initially accepted documents claiming that seven players’ grandparents were born in Malaysia and processed the players’ nationality change applications to Malaysia. If that detail is true, it would comply with FIFA’s nationality rules.
An independent investigation by FIFA later revealed that the family was born in the same countries as the players: Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.
Soccer eligibility issue
This is the latest example of fraudulent registration in international football, often involving Brazilian players and aimed at abuse. FIFA rules allow it Some foreign-born players change their eligibility.
East Timor was expelled Starting with the 2023 Asian Cup, penalties will apply for selecting players with fake birth certificates in World Cup qualifiers. Equatorial Guinea men’s and women’s teams They were involved in qualifying for tournaments such as the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Men’s World Cup.
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