Fifa: Heritage players used forged documents to represent Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) has concluded that several players under the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) made use of forged documents to evade and circumvent its regulations to be eligible to represent Harimau Malaya.
According to investigatory reports by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee (the Secretariat), they found a list of evidence on the players, which contrasted with the one filed by the FAM respectively in the proceedings FPSD-18683, FPSD-19517, FPSD-19518, FPSD-19519, FPSD-19520, FPSD-19521 and FPSD-18682.
“The results of the above investigations were set out in two reports (the Investigatory Reports),” it said.
It said the Secretariat was able to gather a copy of the original birth certificates of the grandmother or grandfather of the players involved, which indicated María Belen Concepcion Martin (Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain), Carlos Rogelio Fernandez (Villa Maria Selva, Santa Fe de la Cruz, Argentina), Omar Eli Holgado Gardon (Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Concepcion Agueda Alaniz (Roldan, Argentina), Nair de Oliveira (Abre Campo, Brazil), Gregorio Irazabal y Lamiquiz (Villa de Guernica y Luno, Viscaya, Spain) and Hendrik Jan Hevel (The Hague, Netherlands).
However, it said the one filed by FAM indicated that Maria Belen Concepion Martin was from Malacca, Carlos Rogelio Fernandez (Penang), Omar Eli Holgado Gardon (Georgetown), Concepcion Agueda Alaniz (Penang), Nair de Oliveira (Johor), Gregorio Irazabal y Lamiquiz (Kuching) and Hendrick Jan Hevel (Malacca Straits Settlements).
Earlier today, FAM confirmed receiving the full written judgement from Fifa regarding the decision to suspend seven heritage players for allegedly violating its disciplinary code.
FAM, in a statement, announced that it will now formally lodge an appeal through the proper legal channels, as all supporting evidence is complete and ready for immediate submission to Fifa.
FAM stated that it takes particular issue with several of the conclusions drawn by Fifa, especially the allegation that the players obtained falsified documents or deliberately attempted to circumvent eligibility rules.
Last month, FAM and the seven heritage players were sanctioned by Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee after being found to have violated Article 22 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code in relation to the falsification of documents.
In its statement, Fifa alleged that FAM had submitted falsified documents to verify the players’ eligibility, which subsequently allowed them to feature in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.
The seven sanctioned players are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.
As a result, FAM has been fined CHF350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million), while each player has been fined CHF2,000 (approximately RM10,560) and handed a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities, effective from the decision’s date of notification. — Bernama
[Source: Malay Mail]
