7 naturalized Malaysian players face an additional severe 'punishment'

Following fines and suspensions imposed by FIFA, the 7 naturalized Malaysian footballers have now been handed additional harsh sanctions.

According to the latest update from the transfer specialist site Transfermarkt on December 23, the 7 naturalized Malaysian players penalized by FIFA include: Hector Hevel, Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Jon Irazabal, Joao Figueiredo, and Imanol Machuca, all of whom have had their entire transfer values erased. Consequently, their transfer values have been adjusted down to zero.

Among these 7 players, Imanol Machuca initially held the highest value at 2.3 million euros. Next was Joao Figueiredo (Johor Darul Tazim) with a transfer value of 1.85 million euros. Following them were Facundo Garces (930,000 euros), Jon Irazabal (550,000 euros), Rodrigo Holgado (420,000 euros), Hector Hevel (370,000 euros), and lastly Gabriel Palmero (46,000 euros).

This is indeed a very serious consequence for the naturalized players, as reaching these values required them to endure a very tough playing process.

Previously, FIFA decided to suspend these seven players for 12 months and fined each 10,560 ringgit (approximately 56 million VND) for violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code related to document forgery. Immediately after the decision, all 7 players found themselves unemployed.

On the side of the Malaysian Football Association, they are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) — which is the final recourse, but the outcome is expected to be unfavorable. According to Indonesian media, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has already prepared a document to sanction FAM, only awaiting the final decision from CAS. This means the Malaysian national team is very likely to be handed 0-3 losses in the two matches against Nepal and Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, similar to the penalties FIFA imposed on them for friendly matches.