Lawyer Accuses Saifuddin Of Twisting Constitution For Players Citizenships

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Human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen has accused Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail of misleading the Dewan Rakyat by citing Section 20(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution to justify the naturalisation of seven “heritage” players in the Harimau Malaya national football squad.
Paulsen explained that the legal provision referenced by Saifuddin relates to calculating the period of residence for persons who have already resided in the country for a certain number of years when applying for citizenship.
“The home minister is misleading Parliament by claiming that Section 20(1)(e) Part III, Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution allows him to exempt the seven foreign players from the period of residence requirement for naturalisation under Article 19 of the Constitution.
“This section should not be deliberately misinterpreted or taken out of context to apply to the present case, where these foreign players have never resided in Malaysia,” Paulsen, who was formerly Malaysia’s representative to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, told Malaysiakini.
Fit for citizenship
This morning, Saifuddin told the Dewan Rakyat that he had exercised his power granted under the Constitution to consider the seven foreign footballers as fit to be granted Malaysian citizenship.
Saifuddin said Section 20(1)(e) provides discretionary power to the home minister when considering a citizenship application from a foreigner, particularly in the fulfilment of the minimum residency requirements.
Lawyer Eric Paulsen“The power under 20(1)(e) means that the definition of ‘residency’ in the Constitution allows for the applicant’s presence outside the country to still be considered as being within the country,” Saifuddin said.
He stressed that all seven players had fulfilled the requirements under the law to be granted citizenship by naturalisation, including having proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia.
According to the minister, the players had also displayed sufficient proficiency in the national language as per a basic test by the National Registration Department (NRD).
Saifuddin’s interpretation challenged
Paulsen also challenged Saifuddin’s interpretation of the law.
“So, going by the minister's logic, he can just bring in a million foreigners tomorrow and just exempt them from any requirements. Obviously, this is wrong.
“Let me be clear, the minister possesses no such extraordinary power of exemption. If he had such power, it would have been spelt out clearly in the Constitution.
“He is attempting to stretch and pervert the language of the Constitution in trying to justify the unlawful naturalisation of these seven foreign players, who clearly could not satisfy the pre-conditions set out in Article 19,” Paulsen added.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution IsmailTrue intent of the law
The co-founder of Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), who has extensive experience handling cases involving stateless individuals, sought to explain the matter in detail.
“As can be seen in Section 20(1)(a) to (d), the purpose of this provision is to allow for specific periods of absence from the country ie for absence of less than six months; education of such kind; health; service of the country, to be treated as part of the period of residence in the country.
“This section can only apply if, for example, the foreign person has resided in Malaysia since age 10, and he was a talented and aspiring footballer, who at age 15 went to La Masia, FC Barcelona’s youth academy in Spain, to train as a footballer for five years, before returning to Malaysia.
“As he reached 21, he then applied for naturalisation under Article 19. In order to comply with the period of residence requirement, he can then make a good argument that his football training overseas for five years should be treated as residence in the country under Section 20(1).
“Therefore, in total, he could claim a period of residence in Malaysia for at least 10 years as required under Article 19,” Paulsen explained.
Article 19 of the Federal Constitution deals with citizenship by naturalisation.
To qualify, an applicant must generally be aged 21 or above, have resided in the federation for the required period (normally 10 out of the 12 years immediately preceding the application), possess adequate knowledge of the Malay language, and be of good character.
Fifa sanctions, players 'benched'
On Sept 26, Fifa imposed sanctions against FAM and the seven players for breaches of Article 22 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code on forgery and falsification.
Fifa said FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the players’ eligibility, enabling them to feature in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.
Fifa also determined that FAM must pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.9 million), while each of the seven players was also slapped with a 2,000 Swiss francs fine.
The 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 also suspended 12 months from all football-related activities.
In the grounds of its ruling, Fifa revealed 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 casts doubt on the NRD verification of the players’ supposed Malaysian heritage. - Mkini

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