FIFA Imposes Rp7bn Fine on Malaysia over Foreign Players' Forged Documents

October 7, 2025 | 03:15 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs, equivalent to Rp7.26 billion, on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) after proven to have submitted falsified birth certificates of seven naturalized players. These players had previously represented the Malaysian national team.

In decision number FDD-24394 issued by the Disciplinary Committee on October 6, 2025, FIFA stated that FAM violated Article 22 of the 2025 FIFA Disciplinary Code concerning forgery and falsification involving seven foreign-born players.

The FIFA decision wrote as quoted on October 7 that FAM and players "Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazagamun Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano" have been found violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code on forgery and falsification.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee convincingly assessed that the birth certificates submitted by FAM had been forged. FIFA found that the birthplaces of the players' ancestors were altered to appear to be from Malaysia.

In the decision signed by FIFA Disciplinary Committee Vice Chair Jorge Palacio, the seven players were also given a 12-month suspension from all football activities and fined 2,000 Swiss francs each, equivalent to Rp41 million. This penalty takes effect from the date of notification of the decision.

FIFA emphasized that the forgery was directly related to FAM's attempts to make the seven players eligible to represent the national team. The investigation revealed stark differences between the documents submitted to FIFA and the original birth certificates from the players' ancestors' actual countries of Argentina, Spain, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

The case began when Malaysia fielded these players in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10, 2025, which ended in a 4-0 victory for Malaysia. Two players involved in the FIFA Disciplinary Committee case even scored goals in the match.

In its defense, FAM claimed to have verified the documents through the Malaysian National Registration Department (NRD) and was unaware of any forgery. However, FIFA stated that the NRD's statement indicated verification weaknesses because the submitted documents were not based on original copies but interpretations of foreign documents.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee deemed this violation not merely an administrative error. FIFA mentioned that there were attempts to undermine the integrity and fairness of international competition.

FAM and the players have three days to appeal to the FIFA Appeal Committee and five more days to submit complete appeal documents. If no appeal is filed, the decision will become legally binding, and the sanctions must be fully implemented within 30 days.

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