The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has admitted a technical error in the submission of documents involving seven heritage players, caused by administrative staff.
FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman said on Sunday the association takes the matter seriously but stressed that the seven players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.
“FAM has identified the technical error in the document submission process and we take this matter very seriously,” he said.
Noor Azman added that FAM is awaiting FIFA’s full judgment before filing an appeal in accordance with existing legal processes.
Last Friday, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee ruled that FAM and the seven players had committed a serious breach of Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code relating to document forgery.
Investigations revealed that FAM submitted modified documents to FIFA to enable the players’ participation in matches.
As a result, FIFA fined FAM RM1.8 million and imposed a RM10,000 fine on each of the seven players: Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano.
All seven featured in Malaysia’s Asian Cup qualifying third-round match against Vietnam on June 10, before FIFA received a formal complaint regarding their eligibility.
