HOT: FIFA released solid evidence proving that 7 naturalized Malaysian players cheated

TPO - On the night of October 6, FIFA released the full dossiers of Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel, the seven players convicted of falsifying documents and illegally naturalizing to play for the Malaysian national team. Through the very specific details in this dossier, fans can see why the world football governing body concluded that the Malaysian Football Federation and the players had cheated.

Báo Tiền Phong•07/10/2025

The 7 cases mentioned in the FIFA dossier all followed a scenario where the Malaysian Football Federation sent relevant documents, initially declaring the legal origin of the players' grandparents. But after the FIFA Disciplinary Committee conducted an investigation, it was discovered that all of them were fraudulently declared by FAM and the players to legitimize the naturalization process.

For example, in the case of Farcundo Garces, a midfielder of Argentine origin who plays for La Liga club Alaves, the documents that FAM sent to FIFA initially stated that this player's grandfather was born in Penang, Malaysia. However, in reality, his grandfather was born in Argentina.

FIFA wrote: “On 6 June 2025, the Football Association of Malaysia submitted to FIFA the application of Facundo Tomas Garces for his eligibility to play for the Malaysia national team. FAM attached the birth certificate of the player’s grandfather in question, which states that Carlos Rogelio Garces Fernandez was born on 29 May 1930 in Penang, Malaysia. This case was filed under reference number FPSD-19517.

FIFA investigates Garces for not being of Malaysian origin

But on June 11, after Vietnam’s match against Malaysia in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, a complaint was filed. The complainant believes that some foreign-born players are not eligible to represent Malaysia. They arrived in Malaysia and started playing for local clubs relatively quickly, and their naturalization and debut were completed in a questionable timeframe.

For the reasons set out above, the Secretariat of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has initiated an investigation. As part of the investigation, the Secretariat has obtained a copy of the relevant original birth certificate, which clearly states the following: "The grandfather of Facundo Gares was born in Villa María Selva, Santa Fe de la Cruz, Argentina".

Surely Malaysian fans are waiting for a definitive answer from the country's football officials.

FIFA has a similar interpretation for the remaining six cases of Gabriel Palmero, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. Initially, documents provided by FAM showed that the grandparents of these players were born in Malaysia. However, the investigation has listed evidence that contradicts the documents submitted by FAM to FIFA.

Gabriel Palmero’s grandmother is Argentinian and not Malaysian as FAM claimed. Rodrigo Holgado’s profile stated that he was born in Malaysia but FIFA investigation found that his grandfather was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Similarly, other players have grandparents born in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, the Netherlands and have no connection to Malaysia.

FIFA concluded that none of the seven eligible players were Malaysian citizens, and that the documents provided by FAM contained false information. In a message to FAM, FIFA stressed that the documents FAM obtained from Argentina, Spain or Brazil relating to the seven players were not original. At the same time, they also warned the Malaysian Football Association to "carefully check" before making any further response.

The case is currently on appeal and could be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The AFC will also consider whether the FA of Malaysia has broken the rules. But with the ironclad evidence from FIFA, Malaysia’s chances of turning the tables are slim.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF PLAYERS INVESTIGATED BY FIFA

Player	Mr./Ms. Player	Place of birth FAM declared	FIFA investigates birthplace
Gabriel Palmeiro	María Belen Concepción Martín	Malacca, Malaysia	Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain
Facundo Garces	Carlos Rogelio Fernandez	Penang, Malaysia	Villa María Selva, Santa Fé de la Cruz, Argentina
Rodrigo Holgado	Omar Eli Holgado Gardon	George Town, Malaysia	Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Javier Machuca	Concepción Agueda Alaniz	Penang, Malaysia	Roldan, Argentina
Joao Figueiredo	Nair de Oliveira	Johore, Malaysia	Abre Campo, Brazil
Jon Irazabal	Gregorio Irazabal y Lamiquiz	Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia	Villa de Guernica y Luno, Viscaya, Spain
Hector Hevel	Hendrik Jan Hevel	Mallaca Straits Settlements, Malaysia	The Hague, Netherlands