Former Chief Justice of Malaysia's Supreme Court leads independent investigation into naturalized players scandal

27/10/2025 11:18:00 PlaymakerHub

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has appointed former Supreme Court Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif as Chairman of an independent committee to investigate misconduct related to the documentation of seven naturalized players banned by FIFA.

The appointment decision, announced by FAM on October 27, aims to fulfill the association’s prior commitment to establish an independent and objective investigative body regarding the case.

Last month, FIFA fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to 1.8 million RM), while the players Facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca, Hector Hevel, Gabriel Palmero, Rodrigo Holgado, Joao Figueiredo, and Jon Irazabal were each fined 2,000 Swiss francs and suspended from playing for 12 months.

On October 17, FAM Vice President Datuk S. Sivasundaram affirmed that no FAM officials would be involved in the investigation committee to ensure fairness and transparency in the inquiry.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has appointed former Supreme Court Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif as Chairman of the independent committee to investigate documentation issues concerning seven naturalized players disciplined by FIFA. Photo: NST

Tun Raus has extensive legal and judicial experience, having served as Malaysia’s Chief Justice since 2017 and held many important roles throughout his career.

FAM hopes that Tun Raus and the committee members, whom he personally selects, will carry out a comprehensive and professional investigation before announcing their conclusions.

According to FAM, the matter arose from an administrative mistake when an employee accidentally uploaded documents provided by the players’ agent instead of the official ones issued by the National Registration Department (NRD). FAM Secretary-General Noor Azman Rahman, responsible for overseeing player registrations, has been suspended.

FAM has submitted an appeal to FIFA, with a final decision expected on October 30.

A few days ago, former FAM President Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, also the head of Malaysia’s player naturalization project, attracted attention by revealing that the complaint sent to FIFA about the seven heritage players was never submitted by the Vietnam Football Federation.

According to international sources, FIFA received the complaint on June 11, just one day after Malaysia’s national team won 4-0 away against Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at Bukit Jalil Stadium. Since then, the world football governing body has launched an official investigation into Malaysian football and the seven naturalized players suspected of using forged documents.

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