‘Sensationally damning’: Malaysian football rocked by naturalisation scandal

There hasn’t been that much to smile about for Malaysian football fans in recent years, so there was real jubilation among the 60,000 home spectators upon the final whistle in Kuala Lumpur on on 10 June. A 4-0 win over regional rivals Vietnam not just kept the Harimau Malaya (Malayan Tigers) on course for the 2027 Asian Cup but well and truly confirmed they were dining back at the top table in southeast Asia. Four months later, they are still the talk of the region of 650 million people, but not in a good way.

The story starts, as it does increasingly in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) football these days, with naturalisation. In January, the crown prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the owner of Johor Darul Ta’zim football club, and former president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), wrote on social media: “We have identified 6-7 heritage players … and hope the Malaysian government could assist in the process of obtaining Malaysian passports in order for them to play in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.”

Seven players from Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands with a grandparent from Malaysia were naturalised. All seven played against Vietnam; two scored. The day after, we now know, Fifa received a complaint about their eligibility and started investigating.

On 22 September, came sanctions. All seven players were hit with a 12-month ban from all football, which came as a shock, not least to La Liga club Alavés as their defender Facundo Garcés had played in all six games of the current season before that. Fifa also fined FAM $438,000. Details weren’t given, but the charges were that the federation “had submitted eligibility enquiries to Fifa, and in doing so, it used doctored documentation to be able to field the above players”.

The reaction in Malaysia was split. Many were appalled, others took offence, suggesting the sanctions were a result of jealousy from rivals. The crown prince questioned the timing and said Malaysians should not bow down to “those individuals who are worried about the rise of Harimau Malaya. Fight on. Be brave for being right”. Conspiracy theories blocking the rise of a team ranked No 123 in the world seem a bit far-fetched, especially as Malaysia has more political clout than its regional rivals with a member on the Fifa council. The general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is also a role historically reserved for a Malaysian as the organisation is officially based in Kuala Lumpur.

On Monday evening came Fifa’s full 19-page report. It arrived as Malaysia slept and was some wake-up call, described by a source close to the organisation as “sensationally damning”. The highlight is a table in the document consisting of three columns. The first has the name of a grandparent, the second is headed “Birthplace (doctored documents)“ and listed states of Malaysia – Penang, Malacca, Johor and Sarawak – where FAM’s documents claimed they were born. The third column headed “Birthplace (original documents)“ listed cities located in Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands where Fifa said they were actually born, namely the same countries as their grandchildren.

“Presenting fraudulent documentation with the purpose of gaining eligibility to play for a national team constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned,” stated Fifa’s report. “Such conduct erodes trust in the fairness of competitions and jeopardises the very essence of football as an activity founded on honesty and transparency.”

In response, FAM said it would launch an appeal. “Claims that players ‘acquired or were aware of fake documents’ are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far,” read a statement, the governing body adding that while there had been an administrative error when submitting documents: “FAM would like to assert that the heritage players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.”

Fifa has said it is confident in its ruling and so it remains to be seen what evidence FAM produces, if any, as part of its appeal. Sources close to Fifa say they believe the appeal will be aimed more at lessening the sanctions rather than overturning the decision.

And there’s more: the AFC has said it will wait until Fifa’s action is resolved before involving its own disciplinary committee. The body runs the Asian Cup and, if Malaysia’s guilt is confirmed, there is a possibility of them not being at the 2027 tournament. The players should try to make the most of Thursday’s qualifier against Laos as there may not be many competitive games in the near future.

After the full Fifa report was released, the reaction at home was fierce, not least because for people in most walks of life, acquiring Malaysian citizenship is a long and frustrating process. As writer Haresh Deol put it when calling for heads to roll: “This fiasco goes beyond FAM and football. It strikes at the nation’s integrity. It’s a national embarrassment.”

It certainly does not do any favours for a country that has for a long time been known more in football terms for match-fixing and betting syndicates than anything on the pitch. For a while it looked as if that was going to change.

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