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In a scathing accusation, FIFA has alleged that Malaysia engaged in "pure and simple, a form of cheating" by falsifying citizenship documents for seven foreign-born players on its national team. FIFA, which had already fined and suspended the players, claims the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) forged birth certificates to falsely indicate that the players' grandparents were born in Malaysia. FAM, however, insists the discrepancies were due to an "administrative error" and plans to appeal FIFA's penalties, asserting that the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens.”
Fifa's "grandfather rule" allows foreign-born football players to represent countries that their biological parents or grandparents were born in. This aims to prevent national football teams from simply importing foreign players to boost performance.
Fifa investigated the players following Malaysia's 4-0 win against Vietnam in June, in response to questions about their eligibility.
In September, the Fifa disciplinary committee suspended the seven players for a year and ordered them to pay a fine of $2,500. At the time, Fifa did not share details about the reason for their suspension, only that it related to "doctored documentation".
The football governing body ordered FAM to pay 350,000 Swiss francs ($440,000; £330,000).
In recent years, South East Asian countries have launched recruitment drives for naturalised players, hoping to emulate Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.
Earlier this year, FAM sent Fifa birth certificates showing that the grandparents of its seven players had been born in Malaysian cities like Penang and Malacca.
But Fifa said investigators obtained original birth certificates of the grandparents, which showed that they were born in countries like Argentina and Spain - all corresponding with the players' birthplaces.
The seven players include Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, Netherlands-born Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano and Brazilian-born Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo.
Malaysia's sports minister Hannah Yeoh said Fifa's findings had tarnished the country's image. She said the ministry would wait for FAM's appeal to be over before making any official statement.
