Fifa rejects appeal, FAM vows to fight on

Summary

• Fifa's Appeal Committee rejects FAM and seven ‘heritage’ players’ appeal against the sanctions for alleged forgery and falsification.

• The sanctions, including a 350,000 Swiss francs fine for FAM and 12-month suspensions for the players, were affirmed.

• FAM plans to bring its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as former chief justice Raus Sharif leads an independent committee to investigate the issue.

The International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) has rejected the appeals of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven “heritage” players who had been granted Malaysian citizenship.

This came after Fifa imposed sanctions on FAM and the seven players on Sept 26 for alleged forgery and falsification.

“After analysing the submissions and conducting a hearing, the (Fifa) appeal committee decided to dismiss the appeals, and to confirm in its entirety the following sanctions imposed upon FAM and the seven players,” Fifa said in a statement today.

It added that FAM and the players have 10 days from today to request the grounds of the decision, and 21 days for a possible appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In a separate statement, FAM said it will take necessary measures to bring its case to the CAS.

“This is the first time FAM is facing such a situation, and our lawyers and management are shocked by the decision.

“Nevertheless, FAM will steadfastly continue to champion the rights of players and Malaysia’s interests in football at the international level,” said FAM acting president Yusoff Mahadi.

In September, Fifa imposed a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.9 million) on FAM, while seven players - Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano - were each fined 2,000 Swiss francs.

The players were also slapped with a 12-month suspension.

According to Fifa, the seven “heritage” players don't have any grandparents born in Malaysia as claimed.

However, FAM rejected allegations of doctoring documents. It also argued that Fifa had not provided evidence to substantiate its allegations of forgery.

The issue has stoked controversy over perceived double standards in how citizenship has been granted to the players, compared to stateless persons who were born and bred in Malaysia.

Independent committee

In a separate development, former chief justice Raus Sharif - who FAM appointed to lead an independent committee to investigate the issue - said the committee held its first meeting today and will do its best to report to FAM in six weeks.

He also unveiled that former Court of Appeal judge Kamaludin Said and former Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) director-general Yusof Ismail will serve as committee members, while lawyer Thavalingam C Thavarajah will be the committee’s secretary.

The four-member committee will not take any remuneration.

Raus added that FAM originally wanted to provide the committee with all necessary administrative facilities and secretariat assistance to ensure smooth operations of the committee’s work.

“However, it was decided to avoid any conflict of interest, the administrative facilities and secretariat assistance will be provided by Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak,” he said.

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