Fifa has launched a scathing rebuke of Malaysia, accusing the country of “cheating, pure and simple” by forging citizenship documents for seven footballers who played in an Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam, despite the national football association’s denials.
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The scandal erupted late last month when the sport’s world governing body imposed fines and bans on the Football Association of Malaysia and the implicated players, alleging falsification of citizenship documents.
The seven players – Gabriel Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel – hail from Brazil, Argentina, Spain and the Netherlands. Under Fifa rules, “heritage players” may represent a country through ancestral ties.
But in a 19-page report issued on Monday, Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee cited official records from Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands showing that none of the players’ grandparents was born in Malaysia – directly contradicting records submitted by the Southeast Asian nation.
“Presenting fraudulent documentation with the purpose of gaining eligibility to play for a national team constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned,” Fifa said in the report.
Malaysian authorities had claimed the players’ grandparents were born in the states of Penang, Malacca, Johor and Sarawak. Officials and pundits in Malaysia have suggested the investigation into player origins was instigated by regional rivals rather than out of genuine concern about player eligibility.
Still, Fifa said it was “comfortably satisfied” that Malaysia’s paperwork had been forged, falsified or doctored to alter the birthplaces.
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