SHAH ALAM – A document allegedly belonging to the grandmother of Vélez Sarsfield player Imanol Machuca has gone viral after an Argentine news outlet published new records contradicting earlier claims about her Malaysian origins.
The revelation was made after FIFA confirmed the one-year suspension of seven Malaysian national players who had been found guilty of falsifying information to secure eligibility for international competitions.
FIFA’s Appeal Committee rejected the appeal filed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), maintaining the 12-month suspension and imposing fines of 2,000 Swiss francs on each player.
FAM was also ordered to pay 350,000 Swiss francs.
The latest report stated that the original birth certificate of Machuca’s grandmother, Concepción Agueda Alaniz, showed she was born in Roldán, Santa Fe Province, Argentina.
The uploaded document stated that on August 23, 1954, at 10am in Roldán, San Lorenzo district of Santa Fe Province, Argentine citizen Celestino Alaniz reported the birth of his daughter, Concepción Agueda, from his marriage to Nélida Agustina Ordóñez.
The discovery confirmed that both of Machuca’s grandparents were entirely Argentine.
Checks on their marriage certificate also showed that Concepción Agueda Alaniz married Jorge Luis Saracho, a labourer born in Roldán, eliminating any Malaysian lineage.
Machuca previously claimed in an interview with Sabado Vélez that he was eligible to represent Malaysia through his grandmother, but the updated findings contradicted that statement.
Earlier, the same portal published birth documents relating to the grandfather of Facundo Garcés, who was also said to be from Penang, but records revealed he too was born in Santa Fe.
However, verification of the certificate’s authenticity has not been fully completed.