Indonesian newspaper says Malaysia has no chance of overturning FIFA sanctions

By Hoang An November 10, 2025 | 03:04 pm PT

Indonesian sports outlet Bolasport said that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has no chance of winning its appeal against FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), citing leaked birth certificates of banned naturalized players as evidence.

According to Bolasport, documents of Facundo Garces, Imanol Machuca and most recently Hector Hevel have been made public. Archives in Argentina and the Netherlands reportedly show their grandparents were born in Europe or South America, while the documents FAM submitted to FIFA claimed they were from Malaysia's Malacca or Penang.

In Hevel's case, data from Dutch website Wiewaswie reportedly shows his grandfather, Hendrik Jan Hevel, was born on Feb. 3, 1933, in The Hague, Netherlands. The data also confirms his great-grandparents were Dutch, with no Malaysian ancestry.

This counters a statement Hevel made in June 2025 after joining Johor Darul Ta'zim, stating his grandfather was born in Malaysia.

Malaysia players celebrate a goal in the 4-0 win against Vietnam at the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10, 2025. Photo by Instagram/@malaysia_nt

This new evidence follows earlier reports from Argentine newspaper Capital de Noticias, which published documents showing the grandparents of Garces and Machuca were born in Santa Fe, Argentina and had no connection to Malaysia.

"These documents are public and can be verified by everyone," Bolasport wrote. "The question is how FAM will dismiss FIFA's accusations at CAS?"

After FIFA dismissed FAM's appeal and upheld the one-year ban for the seven naturalized players on Nov. 3, the association insisted that it would appeal to CAS to protect the rights of the players and the image of Malaysian football.

Bolasport said that with authentic evidence from the original records now public, the possibility of FAM winning the case is "almost zero."