KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- While many Malaysians were preparing to break fast yesterday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) released its decision on the case involving the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the registration of seven heritage players.
The seven players involved are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Manchuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.
The ruling followed a series of developments that began with a statement issued by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) last September, sparking debate among local football fans.
Below is a chronology of events leading up to the CAS decision:
Jan 19, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Hector Hevel to play for Malaysia and encloses his grandfather’s birth certificate dated Jan 6, 2025, indicating that Hendrik Jan Hevel was born on Feb 3, 1933 in the ‘Malacca Straits Settlements’, now Malaysia.
March 20, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Gabriel Felipe Arrocha to play for Malaysia and encloses his grandmother’s birth certificate dated Jan 3, 2025, indicating that Maria Belen Concepcion Martin was born on May 17, 1956 in Malacca, Federation of Malaya, now Malaysia.
March 24, 2025: FIFA informs FAM in a letter that Hevel appears to meet the relevant requirements and could represent the national team.
March 25, 2025: Hevel participates in the Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Nepal, which Malaysia win 2-0. Hevel scores in the 29th minute.
May 29, 2025: Arrocha plays in the international Tier-1 friendly match against Cape Verde, which ends in a 1-1 draw.
June 6, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Facundo Garces to play for Malaysia, enclosing his grandfather’s birth certificate indicating Carlos Rogelio Garces Fernandez was born in George Town, Straits Settlements (British Malaya), on May 29,1930.
June 6, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Rodrigo Holgado to play for Malaysia, enclosing his grandfather’s birth certificate indicating Omar Eli Holgado Gardon was born in George Town, Straits Settlements, on July 27, 1932.
June 6, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Imanol Machuca to represent Malaysia, enclosing his grandmother’s birth certificate indicating Concepcion Agueda Alaniz was born in George Town, Penang, Federation of Malaya, on Aug 16, 1954.
June 6, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Joao Figueiredo to represent Malaysia, enclosing his grandmother’s birth certificate indicating Nair de Oliveira was born in Johor, British Malaya, on Sept 26, 1931.
June 6, 2025: FAM submits an inquiry to FIFA on the eligibility of Jon Irazabal to represent Malaysia, enclosing his grandfather’s birth certificate indicating Gregorio Irazabal y Lamiquiz was born in Kuching, Sarawak, on Feb 24, 1928.
June 6, 2025: FIFA sends a letter to the FAM explaining that on the basis of the information provided, Holgado, Figueiredo and Irazabal appear to comply with all the pertinent requirements and would be eligible to play.
June 9, 2025: FIFA sends a letter to the FAM explaining that on the basis of the information provided, Arrocha, Garces and Machuca appear to comply with all the pertinent requirements and would be eligible to play.
June 10, 2025: All seven players play in a 4-0 win against Vietnam during the Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. Figueiredo and Holgado score in the 49th and 59th minutes respectively.
June 11, 2025: FIFA receives a complaint regarding the eligibility of Arrocha, Holgado, Machuca, Irazabal and Hevel.
Aug 22, 2025: FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against the FAM and Arrocha, Garces, Holgado, Machuca, Figueiredo and Irazabal for potential breach of Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC).
Aug 28, 2025: FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against Hevel for the same potential breach.
Sept 4, 2025: Arrocha, Garces, Holgado, Figueiredo and Irazabal play in the international Tier-1 friendly match in a 2-1 victory against Singapore. Figueiredo scores in the 55th minute.
Sept 8, 2025: Arrocha, Holgado and Figueiredo play in the international Tier-1 friendly match in a 1-0 win against Palestine. Figueiredo scores in the third minute.
Sept 22, 2025: FAM presents its statement of defence and bundle of evidence. The players, for their part, present via the FAM, on the same date, a signed statement.
Sept 22, 2025: Following the receipt of the appellants’ submissions, the secretariat informs the appellants that the matter has been referred for adjudication on Sept 25, 2025 by the deputy chairperson of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee sitting as a single judge.
Sept 26, 2025: FIFA confirms that FAM and the seven players were found to have breached Article 22 of the FDC for document falsification to validate the eligibility of the players to feature in Malaysia’s 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers on June 10.
Sept 26, 2025: FAM was ordered to pay a fine of CHF350,000 (about RM1.8 million), while each player was fined CHF2,000 (about RM11,000) and handed a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities.
Nov 3, 2025: FIFA’s Appeal Committee rejects appeals by the FAM and the players, upholding the Disciplinary Committee’s decision on the serious breach of Article 22 of the FDC.
Nov 18, 2025: FIFA releases a 64-page report explaining its decision to uphold sanctions against FAM and the seven players.
Dec 8, 2025: FAM confirms that it has submitted its Statement of Appeal to CAS.
Dec 17, 2025: FIFA overturns the results of all three international Tier-1 friendly matches against Nepal, Singapore and Palestine. Harimau Malaya were hit with 3-0 losses for fielding ineligible players.
Jan 26, 2026: The 12-month suspension from all football activities imposed by FIFA on the seven players has been temporarily lifted by CAS.
Jan 28, 2026: CAS confirms the in-person hearing of the case will be held on Feb 26 at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Feb 26, 2026: Hearing of the case takes place at the CAS headquarters.
March 5, 2026: CAS releases operative decision (without grounds), which partially upheld an appeal by seven players against the FIFA sanctions for falsifying naturalisation and eligibility documents.
March 5, 2026: The CAS Panel rules that the seven players shall receive a ban for 12 months, but from official matches only and not from all football-related activities.
March 5, 2026: The ban from playing matches starts March 5, 2026, with credit for the period from Sept 25, 2025 until Jan 26, 2026 included, where the ban was effectively served.
March 5, 2026: The CAS Panel also considers that the CHF 350,000 fine on FAM concerning the aforementioned case was justified and proportionate.
March 5, 2026: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) takes note of the decision issued by the CAS and confirms that the matter will now be referred to the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee for further consideration.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
