Khaberni - The International Football Federation announced the suspension of seven international players for an entire year, after their involvement in forging their grandparents' identity documents to represent the Malaysian team was confirmed.
The decision, which includes banning the players from any soccer activities for a year starting from the notification date, also included a fine of 2150 euros per player, while the Malaysian Football Federation was fined 376,000 euros.
The investigations conducted by "FIFA" over the recent months revealed that the players provided forged documents proving that their grandparents were born in Malaysia, enabling them to participate with the team in the qualifiers for the 2027 Asian Cup against Vietnam, a match that ended with Malaysia’s victory of 4-0 and saw two of the sanctioned players scoring.
Among the names involved are Spaniards Gabriel Aroucha and Jon Erazabal, Argentinians Facundo Garcés and Rodrigo Holgado, Emmanuel Machuca, Brazilian Joao Figueiredo, and Dutch Hector Hevel.
Facundo Garcés, a defender at Spanish club Alaves, is considered one of the prominent names on the list, having played in six Spanish league matches this season before he was temporarily suspended from playing.
In the aftermath of the decision, Vietnam will benefit most from the scandal, as Malaysia's victory was declared void and the match result will be counted as a 3-0 win for the Vietnamese national team.
