Following this decision, Vietnam has advanced to the Asian Cup from Group 'F'. Following this decision, the scandal of seven foreign-born players playing for the Malaysian national team has come to an end.
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Malaysia's dream of playing the 2027 Asian Cup ended on Tuesday. After fielding 'ineligible players' in two qualifying matches, both were defeated 3-0. After this decision, Vietnam reached the Asian Cup from Group 'F'. After the decision, the scandal of playing seven foreign-born players in the Malaysian national team has come to an end.
The players played for the Malaysian team by giving forged certificates. They were later banned. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said, 'The team that was subject to action has been proven to have ineligible players in the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers.' The AFC, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, has also fined Malaysia $50,000.
After this decision, Vietnam took a decisive 6-point lead in Group 'F' of the qualifiers. The team has now surpassed Malaysia to reach the top. Now on March 31, these two teams are playing in Vietnam and the result will not mean anything. Malaysia opened an investigation after a 4-0 win over Vietnam in a qualifier in June. Two of the seven players involved in the controversy scored goals in that match.
The Nepali team lost 2-0 to the same Malaysian team in March. Now the results of both matches have been reversed. An investigation by FIFA found that the disputed players had submitted forged documents. None of their ancestors were of Malaysian origin. According to FIFA, the disputed players were three Argentines, two Spaniards, one Dutchman and one Brazilian.
The players include Hector Havel, John Irazábal, Gabriel Palermo, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Emmanuel Machuca and João Brandão. FIFA banned them all for one year and fined them a total of $448,000. They went to CAS in Switzerland to appeal the decision. CAS, however, reduced the fines slightly but maintained the one-year ban.
