Rumors emerge that Malaysia was deceived by a player agent in an illegal naturalization case

Veteran investigative journalist R. Nadeswaran shook Malaysian football by claiming that FAM was outsmarted by a player agent in the case involving seven naturalized players currently sanctioned by FIFA.

Malaysian football continues to be rocked following an article by observer and investigative journalist R. Nadeswaran on Malaysia Kini. He stated that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was duped by a player agent in the case where seven naturalized players were severely punished by FIFA for using invalid documents. According to Nadeswaran, this incident is not simply an "administrative error" as FAM previously claimed, but involves a broker orchestrating the entire process.

On October 7, FAM explained that FIFA’s penalty stemmed from an "administrative mistake" when an employee mistakenly uploaded documents from "an agent" instead of official papers from the National Registration Department (NRD). However, Nadeswaran pointed out that even the NRD documents were not originals. On September 19, NRD Director General Badrul Hisham Alias admitted that the real birth certificates of the players’ grandparents could not be found, and only copies based on secondary evidence were produced.

Nadeswaran believes a broker provided FAM with a list of seven players: Facundo Garcés, Imanol Machuca, Hector Hevel, Gabriel Palmero, Rodrigo Holgado, Joao Figueiredo, and Jon Irazabal. "The most prominent figure in this case is a mysterious player agent who ‘supplied’ seven foreign players from Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, each supposedly having Malaysian ancestry", he wrote.

According to the journalist, FAM placed full trust in the dossier provided by this agent without thoroughly verifying the players’ backgrounds. "It’s hard to imagine FAM leaders like Yusoff Mahadi or S. Sivasundaram personally traveling to South America to verify lineage. Probably, FAM hired an agent who was handsomely paid," <*!>Nadeswaran remarked.

Fans are eagerly awaiting a favorable ruling for the Vietnam national team.

He also stated that the brokerage fee involved in this deal must be substantial:

"Normally, agents take only 10%, so the cost to bring these seven players must be enormous. Someone is ‘laughing all the way to the bank’ while FAM remains silent about that person’s identity."

Currently, FAM has filed an appeal to FIFA and remains confident that the sanctions and 12-month bans on the naturalized players will be overturned. However, after numerous suspicions and allegations, can FAM prove its innocence in this scandal?