Malaysia Drop Water Face In The Eyes Of Vietnamese Indonesian And Ouch Singaporean Football Fans

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AS Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh admitted being “saddened and angry” over the recent International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) decision, rival Southeast Asian soccer fans have joined displeased Harimau Malaya fans to poke fun at the national soccer team.
“Be careful when traveling in Malaysia – one day you might wake up to find yourself lying in the changing room at Bulkit Jalil Stadium,” trolled one Vietnamese football fan, rejoicing the prospect of Malaysia’s 4-0 win against his country in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers “could flip into a 3-0 win for Vietnam!”
Editor’s Note: When Harimau Malaya faced Vietnam on June, nine of its starting XI were either foreign-born or heritage players.


Another rubbed salt onto the wounded pride of Harimau Malaya by recounting “Singaporean player was right; it was Latin night that day” on the Sesia goal Facebook (FB) page which boasts “All about Indonesia & Southeast Asia footy updates!”

“Where are the Malaysian national team supporters? They are usually the most militant” wondered an Indonesian football fan who even dared FAM “to show the family tree of their natural players like Indonesia”.

Yesterday (Sept 27), Yeoh who is also the Segambut MP has urged for calm to enable FAM to complete its appeal process against FIFA’s sanctions on seven naturalised national players.
“The current priority is for FAM to complete the FIFA and international legal appeal process until it is fully resolved. The impact of this matter does not only involve the seven players but also our entire national team,” Bernama quoted her as stating in an Instagram post.
The players sanctioned are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano.
FIFA claimed that FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the players’ eligibility which allowed them to feature in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.
As a result, FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 mil) while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (about RM10,560) and suspended from all football-related activities for 12 months effective from the notification date of the decision.
Meanwhile, the Asean Football FB page expects the heavy sanctions to hit local champion Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) the hardest with three players from the team in the FIFA suspension list.

“ Moreover, AFC (Asian Football Confederation) is set to annul Malaysia’s 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifier result vs Vietnam which could officially be awarded as a 3-0 win for Vietnam,” noted the site.

While the post sounded courteous, its commenters seemed to have a gala time making Malaysian football eat humble pie.

Even local football fans have leveraged the FIFA sanctions to reiterate their concerns with the current state of affairs at FAM.
“This is not just football but involves JPN (National Registration Department), Immigration, TMJ (Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim who is the JDT ownee) and of course, FAM,” cautioned the MALAYSIA NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM in a FB post.
“FAKE documents are not something to trivial. Fight and win in a proper manner or this will become the world’s biggest football scandal!”

Until and unless FAM is able to turn the table on FIFA and the AFC, its gamble with naturalised heritage players is deemed to have backfired, hence will scar Malaysia men’s national football team which is currently ranked 123rd on the latest FIFA list (as of Sept 18) for a long time to come. –  Focus Malaysia

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