Malaysia’s results in three top-tier international matches have been overturned to 0-3 defeats after FIFA disciplined the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for fielding ineligible players.
The affected games are: the 1-1 draw with Cape Verde at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras on May 29; the 2-1 win over Singapore at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on September 4; and the 1-0 victory against Palestine at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor on September 8.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, FAM said the decision came from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which convened on Friday, December 12, and also imposed a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately RM51,414).
The committee, chaired by FIFA Disciplinary Committee deputy chairman Jorge Palacio, concluded that FAM breached Article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (2025 Edition) by fielding ineligible players in those three Tier 1 matches.
Following the ruling, FAM indicated it would lodge a written request to obtain the formal grounds of the decision from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee before determining its next steps.
Separately, FAM has confirmed it is appealing FIFA sanctions related to documentation issues involving seven heritage players—Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel—to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The CAS move came after FIFA released the comprehensive 63-page grounds for its Appeals Committee’s motivated decision on November 3, which upheld the earlier FIFA Disciplinary Committee ruling.
That earlier decision fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million) and suspended each of the seven players for 12 months, with individual fines of 2,000 Swiss francs (roughly RM10,000) per player.
— Report by Liza Shireen Koshy
