Malaysia’s football authorities said today that FIFA has punished the country with three 3-0 losses for playing players who are ineligible, the most recent sanction in a long-running controversy.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced that this year’s home friendlies against Singapore and Palestine, as well as a tie with Cape Verde, have been overturned.
According to AFP, FIFA has already suspended seven national team players who were born outside of Malaysia due to falsified credentials claiming to be of Malaysian descent.
The FAM has been penalized an additional $12,500 after being earlier fined $440,000.
According to the FAM, a FIFA disciplinary committee meeting on Friday decided that “Malaysia is declared to have lost 3-0 in all three matches.”
Following Malaysia’s 4-0 victory over Vietnam in an Asian Cup qualifying match in June, FIFA received a complaint and opened an investigation.
Out of the seven players, two of them scored.
As a prerequisite for being selected for a national team, its inquiry revealed that none of Hector Hevel, Jon Irazabal, Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, or Joao Brandao Figueiredo had a parent or grandparent born in Malaysia.
The FAM has promised to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and denies any misconduct.
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