Tunku Ismail defends 7 'heritage' players, says they have legit papers

Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim defended the seven “heritage” players sanctioned by the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) last month, maintaining that they are Malaysians, and that their documents were legitimate and came from the government.

Addressing a press conference today, he said he will fight for these players because “they are Malaysians and they have the right to represent Malaysia.”

“There is a dispute in documentation because we have all the documents, and Fifa has theirs.

“If the government has said the documents are legitimate, I don’t think I, as a Malaysian, have the right to question the country’s sovereignty or integrity.

“If you want to say they are not Malaysians, then what makes you think we are all legitimate Malaysians, if we can question them?” he said.

Tunku Ismail said the seven players were the ones, out of 27 to 28 players recommended to him and Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and approved by the government to play for the national football team. 

In fact, he added, Fifa had even approved the players to play in the first and second games, prior to receiving complaints about their citizenship legitimacy.

“There was a complaint (against Malaysia after the game with Vietnam) which I was not aware of and I asked AFC, who then told me the complaint came from someone in Vietnam but not from their football association.

“So for me, it is quite strange, to be honest, for Fifa to entertain anybody because I bet you, there are a lot of complaints out there,” he said. 

Fifa sanctions

Fifa, on Sept 28, sanctioned FAM and seven “heritage” players for violating Article 22 of its Disciplinary Code in relation to document falsification, where they claimed FAM had submitted false documents to enable the team to play in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10. 

The seven players involved were Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano.

As a result, FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.8 million), while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the date of notification of the decision.

On Oct 7, Fifa revealed that it had acquired the original birth documents of the players’ "Malaysian-born" grandparents, which contradicted the allegedly doctored documents submitted by the Malaysian side.

It also cast doubt on the National Registration Department (NRD) verification of the players’ supposed Malaysian heritage.

Fifa may not change its mind

Responding to Fifa’s sanction and fine imposed, Tunku Ismail said the international football association may not change their mind but perhaps could reduce the amount of fine. 

“I don't think Fifa will change its decision (and) even if it does, they might reduce the punishment slightly. I think they will (maintain) their fine against FAM and maybe the national team or even deduct points and ban the players, which we don't know how long the ban will be. 

“But even if (it comes to that), I think the lawyers in the national team must take full responsibility and find a solution on how we could resolve this. I dont think it’s true, to say the players forged (the documents), because they did not know about it. 

“For me, if the players are not involved, how could they be banned for a year without any football activity? Their livelihood will be destroyed! But the rule is the rule and we just have to fight.” Tunku Ismail added that FAM and those involved should not sit still and that they should fight Fifa’s decision as best as possible. 

“As long as we are confident in what we have, and that the documents are valid, we should not sit still. 

“In my personal opinion, this is something we have to fight, we have no choice. How can we surrender or bow down? We should be brave for we are right. 

“It is unfair for us to just neglect these players, as we can see with our own eyes on how they have committed when they represent our country and it gave us points, so to me, they are our soldiers and we should not leave them behind.”

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