Fifa Exposes Damaging Forgery Trail In Fam Naturalisation Scandal

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The FIFA appeal committee backed the earlier ruling by its disciplinary body that FAM and the players had relied on falsified birth certificates to claim Malaysian ancestry for national-team selection. — NSTP FILE PICKUALA LUMPUR: The FIFA appeal committee has laid out in detail why it upheld the sanctions against the FA of Malaysia (FAM) and seven naturalised players over the use of forged documents in eligibility cases.
In a decision finalised on Nov 3, the committee backed the earlier ruling by its disciplinary body that FAM and the players had relied on falsified birth certificates to claim Malaysian ancestry for national-team selection.
FIFA investigators found that documents submitted by FAM stated the players' grandparents were born in Malaysian territories.
But civil records obtained directly from Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands showed all seven were actually born abroad.
The appeal committee rejected claims by FAM and the players that they acted in good faith.
It said the players signed naturalisation papers without reading them and made no attempt to verify the supposed Malaysian lineage.
FIFA also ruled that FAM showed clear negligence in its handling of the naturalisation process, pointing to contradictory records, unverified ancestry claims and a failure to address repeated requests for clarification from FIFA officials.
The forged documents enabled the players to obtain Malaysian passports and eligibility clearance, allowing them to feature in international matches, including the 4-0 win over Vietnam in an Asian Cup qualifier in June, in which two naturalised players scored.
The committee said the falsifications gave Malaysia an "undue sporting gain" and dismissed arguments that the forgery was minor or merely administrative.
FAM's claim that the ruling was invalid because it was issued by a single judge was also thrown out.
The appeal body said the disciplinary process had been correctly followed.
During the appeal, FAM told FIFA that its general secretary had been provisionally suspended and that a domestic review panel, led by former Chief Justice Tun Raus Sharif, had been appointed.
But, the committee said the internal steps did not justify overturning or reducing the sanctions.
It concluded that the integrity of competition had been compromised and saw "no basis" to lessen the punishment.
In September, the FIFA disciplinary committee fined FAM CHF350,000 (about RM1.9 million).
The seven players were each fined CHF2,000 (RM10,600) and banned from all football-related activities for 12 months.
The players are Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel. - NST

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