FIFA fine: Three JDT heritage players barred from M-League - MFL

KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian Football League (MFL) has confirmed that three heritage players from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) are barred from featuring in the Malaysia League (M-League) throughout the suspension period following sanctions imposed by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven heritage players.

The three players are striker Joao Figueiredo, defender Jon Irazabal and midfielder Hector Hevel.

"MFL today confirms that it has received official notification from FAM regarding the decision by FIFA to suspend seven heritage players for 12 months.

"Further action in this case will only be taken by MFL once FAM’s appeal decision is announced by FIFA,” MFL said in a statement today.

Last Friday, FAM and the seven players were penalised by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee for violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code concerning document falsification.

In a statement, FIFA said FAM was found to have submitted falsified documents to verify the players’ eligibility, allowing them to be fielded in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.

The four other players sanctioned are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado and Imanol Machuca.

As a result, FAM was fined CHF350,000 (about RM1.8 million), while each player was fined CHF2,000 (about RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the date of notification of the decision.

Yesterday, FAM secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman admitted that a technical error had been identified in the process of submitting documents by the governing body’s administrative staff.

Noor Azman said FAM takes the matter seriously and stressed that the players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.

He said FAM is awaiting FIFA’s full judgment before filing an appeal in accordance with existing legal processes. - BERNAMA