Facundo Garces' Malaysian Origin

Garces' great-grandfather was Malaysian.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has officially denied allegations of fraud in the scandal involving a group of naturalized players who are currently suspended by FIFA. Secretary General Datuk Noor Azman Hj Rahman affirmed: “We discovered a technical error in the process of submitting documents. The players involved are all legal citizens of Malaysia.”

However, AS newspaper pointed out the case of Facundo Garces who does not meet FIFA's criteria. Specifically, Garces only has a great-grandfather who is Malaysian - a detail that is not included in the regulations on eligibility to wear the national team jersey.

According to FIFA regulations, a player can only play for a national team if his/her father or mother was born in that country, his/her paternal/maternal grandparents are citizens, or he/she has been a legal resident continuously for at least 5 years after his/her 18th birthday.

This means that FAM’s claim that Garces’s great-grandfather’s origin was legitimate is invalid. Previously, FAM had stated that FIFA had checked and confirmed the legitimacy of the documents, so the accusation of “forging documents” has caused great confusion among Malaysian public opinion.

In a statement, FAM affirmed that it would use “all available legal channels” to appeal but would wait until it received the detailed verdict before officially submitting the application. The incident not only caused the Malaysian team to be in trouble before international tournaments, but also raised big questions about the naturalization policy - an increasingly sensitive issue as FIFA tightens standards for players who were not born or did not reside permanently in the country they want to represent.

Source: https://znews.vn/goc-gac-malaysia-cua-facundo-garces-post1589592.html