Clear timing for CAS ruling on FAM: Will they be handed a 0-3 loss before facing Vietnam?

The destiny of Malaysian football and 7 naturalized players is about to be determined by CAS.

According to sources from The New Straits Times, the future of 7 Malaysian naturalized footballers will be decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the verdict expected on Friday, February 26.

"According to an insider, only the legal team appointed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will attend to handle the proceedings. No senior officials from the national federation, including FAM’s secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman, will be present in Lausanne," NST revealed.

Notably, the newspaper reported that the decision will be announced immediately after the hearing concludes without long delays: "The ruling is expected to be released as early as 5 a.m. on Friday Malaysia time," a source from NST stated.

Previously, seven Malaysian naturalized players including Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel were suspended by FIFA for 12 months starting from last September due to falsifying documents related to their eligibility to play for the national team.

However, CAS ordered a suspension of the sanction in January, allowing the players to continue competing until the final ruling is issued on or after February 26. FIFA subsequently also imposed a temporary suspension of the ban on these 7 players.

If CAS upholds FIFA’s penalty against FAM and the 7 players, it is highly likely that Malaysia’s national team will forfeit 0-3 in matches against Vietnam and Nepal in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.