Seven foreign-born players on Malaysia’s national football team have been cleared to continue playing after the Court of Arbitration for Sport temporarily suspended FIFA’s bans while it reviews their appeal, the country’s football federation said Tuesday.
FIFA last September fined the Football Association of Malaysia 350,000 Swiss francs ($450,000) over allegedly falsified documents used to naturalize the players.
The seven, originally from Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain, were also fined and handed one-year suspensions after being deemed in breach of FIFA eligibility rules. They featured in Malaysia’s victory over Vietnam in a 2027 Asian Cup qualifier.
The Malaysian federation later took the case to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport after FIFA rejected its appeal.
In a statement Tuesday, the federation said the court approved a request for a stay of execution, allowing the players to continue participating in all football-related activities until a final ruling is issued.
The players are Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel, all of whom have played for the Harimau Malaya national team.
“This means the 12-month suspension from all football activities imposed by FIFA on the seven players has been temporarily lifted,” the federation said. “They are now allowed to continue their careers and participate in football-related activities until CAS makes a final ruling.”
The federation did not say when a decision is expected.
Malaysian officials have said all seven players had a grandparent born in Malaysia, making them eligible under FIFA rules.
FIFA, however, said its investigators found conflicting information after obtaining original documents from the players’ countries of origin.
