On March 20, 2025, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) submitted two names to FIFA for eligibility to play for Malaysia – Gabriel Palmero andHector Hevel. Coincidentally and amusingly, both players’ ancestors were born in Malacca. Palmero’s supporting birth certificate showed his grandmother was born in Malacca on May 17, 1956, while Hevel’s grandfather was purportedly born in Malacca Straits on Feb. 3, 1933.
Four days later (March 24), FIFA replied to FAM that Hevel appeared to be eligible to play for Malaysia based on the information provided. On June 6, perhaps encouraged by FIFA’s positive response, the emboldened FAM submitted five more names – Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, and Jon Irazábal – with more similar supporting birth certificates.
Garcés’ grandfather was born in Penang on May 29, 1930, Holgado’s grandfather was born in George Town (July 27, 1932), Machuca’s grandmother was born in Penang (August 16, 1954), Figueiredo’s grandmother was born in Johor (Sept. 26, 1931) and Irazábal’s grandmother was born in Kuching (Feb. 24, 1928). On the same day of FAM’s submission, FIFA gave the same positive reply for Machuca and Irazábal.
By June 9, FIFA finished sending all seven letters to FAM with the same reply – they all appeared to be eligible to play for Malaysia based on the information provided, just in time before the June 10’s match between Malaysia and Vietnam in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Malaysia would beat Vietnam 4-0, with Figueiredo and Holgado scoring in the 49th and 59th minute respectively.
It was Malaysia’s first win against Vietnam in a decade. The fabrication of documents appeared to be working, at least that was what FAM thought – till the football’s governing authority FIFA received formal complaint the next day (June 11) regarding the eligibility of five of the players – Palmero, Holgado, Machuca, Irazábal and Hevel. All hell was about to break loose.
Malaysia’s celebration was cut short as a can of worms has been opened. The complainant – Vietnamese officials – stated “reason to believe that certain foreign-born players are ineligible to represent the Malaysian national football team”, citing that “their naturalisation process and international debut took place within a questionable timeframe”.
The secretariat for FIFA’s disciplinary committee opened investigations, with subsequent findings enough for the secretariat to be satisfied that forged documents were used. FIFA proceeded to slap a fine last month of 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.85 million or US$438,960) on FAM, and a fine of 2,000 Swiss francs and suspension from all football-related activities for a year on the players.
In truth, all the seven foreign players who passed off as Malaysian-born players were born on another continent, and never in Asia, let alone in Malaysia. Evidence, which surprisingly FIFA managed to obtain with ease, showed that all the “grandpa or grandma” of the 7 naturalised players were born in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, or Netherlands, but never in Malaysia.
The simple fact that the original documents proving that the birthplace of all the seven players’ grandparents were thousands of miles away from Malaysia is already the biggest red flag that the FAM, Sports Ministry, the Government of Malaysia, and even the Royal House of Johor were involved – either directly or indirectly – in the biggest forgery of the world’s football community.
And the simple fact that the FAM and the relevant authorities had taken the trouble to doctor the documents to hide the actual birthplace suggests that Malaysia knew from the beginning about FIFA rules for naturalized players – requiring a genuine link to the country, which can be established by being born there, having a parent or grandparent born there, or residing there for a minimum of five years after turning 18.
Because the foreign players don’t have residence proof of having stayed in Malaysia for at least 5 years after turning 18, or proof that their parents were born in the country, the easiest way to cheat is to claim that their grandparents were born in Malaysia because a dead man speaks no tales. Can you imagine news media trying to interview their “non-existent” parents in Penang or Malacca?
FAM and seven heritage players were sanctioned by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee after being found guilty of violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code related to document forgery. This is where both Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Idris and former Court of Appeal judge, Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, don’t understand as they desperately try to defend the indefensible.
Mr Hamid, attempting to twist and spin, has argued that FIFA’s decision constitutes a “jurisdictional error” that encroaches on the authority of Malaysian courts. The provision of Article 22, he claims, only applies to cases involving forgery or falsification of documents – not to situations where a document was officially issued by a government authority.
There are two huge problems with the ex-judge’s argument. First, based on his brilliant logic, Malaysia, or any country for that matter, could win the FIFA World Cup tomorrow by paying and naturalizing Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Rodri, and Erling Haaland through fabrication of documents, which Malaysia’s National Registration Department (NRD) would gladly rubber-stamp.
Second, FIFA’s authority includes governing the global sport of football, organizing major international tournaments like the World Cup, and establishing and enforcing rules and standards for the game. It simply means FIFA’s rules apply to FAM and not the other way round. As long as Malaysia wants to compete internationally, FIFA’s rules – not “Ketuanan Melayu” – are supreme.
If the Football Association of Malaysia does not like the FIFA’s rules about naturalization, it can always go fly kite, set its own rules and compete domestically within Malaysia. Who is Malaysia to argue that FIFA encroaches on the authority of Malaysian courts when the other 210 member associations of FIFA across six continents professionally subscribe to the same rules?
Someone should remind ex-judge Hamid that the FIFA’s rules were designed to prevent the abusive practice of “nationality shopping”, where a football association seeks players who have been overlooked in their home countries by offering them a financial incentive and new citizenship. Imagine the chaos when Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo agrees to represent Malaysia, only to jump to Saudi Arabia the next day due to a better offer.
Tunku Ismail, widely seen as the key figure in recruiting foreign-born talent to boost the national squad through short-cuts, but accused by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as the main player in the document fabrication scandal, has sparked more laughter when he hilariously accused FIFA’s decision as “politically motivated”. Exactly what could FIFA gain politically is beyond comprehension.
Obviously, the Johor regent – who owns Johor Darul Ta’zim, the club that three of the footballers play for – was incredibly upset that the forgery had been exposed and his players are demoralized. Playing a reverse psychology game to paint himself as innocent, the royalty offers to be a scapegoat in the scandal involving the Malaysian national football team’s heritage players.
But the silly game won’t get any sympathy vote at an appeal session with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after FIFA rejects FAM’s appeal. It’s not rocket science that CAS will similarly reject Malaysia’s appeal for obvious reason, not to mention that in 2024 alone, the CAS upheld 89.5% of FIFA’s decision in cases that came before the tribunal.
Even before the CAS could hear FAM’s appeal, more proof has emerged showing how the seven heritage football players were nothing but fake Malaysian players. In another blow to the dignity and sovereignty of Malaysian football, Spanish third-division club Unionistas de Salamanca have officially announced that they have terminated the loan of Gabriel Palmero.
“Unionistas de Salamanca Football Club have reached an agreement with Club Deportivo Tenerife to terminate the loan of player Gabriel Palmero, following notification received from FIFA on Sept 25 and the rejection of the player’s appeal on Nov 3,” – said an official statement from Unionistas on Friday (Nov 7) evening. This announcement is a further slap in the face of Malaysia.
Not only does this show that the Home Ministry has given a special privilege to Palmero by breaking the law of dual-citizenship, but it also shows that the 23-year-old Spanish player does not belong to Malaysia from the beginning, despite his so-called Malaysian citizenship. He was being loaned from Spain, lending credence to FIFA’s decision to penalise FAM and the player for document forgery.
Heck, the FAM, Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and even the “above the law” Johor Regent Tunku Ismail were all as quiet as a church mouse after the Spanish third-division club abruptly ended the loan of Palmero, forcing the left back to return to his second-division club CD Tenerife.
Worse, Tenerife also followed by announcing that Palermo’s contract with the club ended on Nov 7. With both Palermo’s loan to Unionistas de Salamanca and his contractual relationship with Club Deportivo Tenerife having ended on Nov 7, Palmero is now without a club. Palmero, who had put up a brave face by declaring “Lucharla hasta el final” (Fight to the End) last month, is now uncertain about his future
The burning question is why isn’t the Malaysian heritage player Palmero staying in Malaysia after Unionistas de Salamanca and CD Tenerife reject him, but chose to return to Spain instead? Another heritage national player, Imanol Machuca, had already returned home to Argentina from Malaysia to rejoin his club, Velez Sarsfield. It appears they have zero loyalty to Malaysia, and Malaysia has zero control over their contract.
Earlier, Colombian club, America de Cali were reported to be in the process of terminating their contract with the Argentine-born Holgado following the FIFA suspension. La Liga club Deportivo Alaves have removed center-back Facundo Garces from their squad after FIFA imposed a 12-month ban on him for using falsified documents to obtain naturalization.
Even when the 12-month ban ends, it will be highly difficult for the players to return to play for Malaysia. When FIFA said the FAM’s forgery of birth certificates “constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating”, it had effectively tarnished the country’s image on the global stage. The damage is done, and foreign football players are expected to avoid this country with a 10-foot pole.
More importantly, while getting banned from football for a full year at a player’s prime could stall development and even ruin rising career, the after-effects of FIFA’s 12-month ban on Malaysia’s seven heritage players show that they are never true Malaysian players to begin with, but were merely loan players from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, or Netherlands whose grandparents had never set foot, let alone born, in Malaysia.
Other Articles That May Interest You …
- Laughing Stock – FIFA Rejects FAM’s Ridiculous “Grandfather Story” Appeal
- Mahathir Hinted Johor Royalty Behind FAM-FIFA Fraud Scandal
- Disgrace – FIFA Exposes How FAM Cheats With Fake Birth Certs
- Sore Losers Get Jealous!! – Western Swimmers Accused Chinese Of Cheating At Paris Olympics After Losing Dominance
- Deaf Grab Driver Assaulted By Royal Bodyguard – How Police Cover-Up Will Bring Back Johor Sultanate’s 1992 Scandal
- Taylor Swift’s S$500 Million Economic Impact – How Singapore Cleverly Got An Exclusive Deal For The Pop Star
- A Lesson From Langkawi Ghost Town – KL Finally Scrapped Liquor Ban To Boost Tourism & Economy
- Anwar Madani’s Religious Politics – New Concert Rules Prohibiting Mixed Seating Of Males & Females Backfire
- A $40 Billion Listing – How Two Malaysians Moved Grab To Singapore And Grow It As Southeast Asia’s Most Valuable Startup
- 10 Secret Messages From “Ola Bola” – To Make Malaysian Football Great Again
- Iran The Cheater – Women’s Football Team Are Mostly MEN
|
|
November 8th, 2025 by financetwitter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
Add your comment now.
Leave a Reply