Malaysian Lawyer Delivers Bad News to FAM Amid CAS Sentence Reduction

The Malaysian national team might welcome back key players, yet they may be competing with a “take it or leave it” mindset.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has provisionally suspended the sanctions, allowing seven players previously banned by FIFA to immediately resume playing. However, according to sports lawyer Nik Erman Nik Roseli, if Malaysia loses the final ruling, all points earned with these players could be annulled.

In a statement released on January 26, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed that players Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel have been granted a 12-month suspension stay by CAS.

According to Nik Erman, this decision istemporary, based on CAS Code Articles R48 and R37, which allow players to continue competing while their appeals are pending. He explained that a request for suspension usually accompanies the appeal and must meet three legal criteria:

“First is the risk of irreparable harm to the players, meaning they might lose playing opportunities that cannot be recovered even if the appeal succeeds,”Nik Erman elaborated. “Second is the likelihood of preliminary success on appeal, and third is the balance of interests, where the players’ rights must outweigh FIFA’s interests.”.

The lawyer noted that CAS granting a suspension is not uncommon in football, citing a 2008 case where a four-month ban was also temporarily lifted pending a decision. However, he emphasized that this temporary ruling does not predict the final outcome of the case.

“A provisional order does not forecast the final verdict since the arbitration panel only needs to preliminarily assess whether the appeal has merit, not review the entire case,” he stated.“Therefore, this should not be interpreted as an indication that Malaysia will win the case.”.

Nik Erman explained that unless there are special restrictions, a suspension generally allows players to fully participate in football activities, including club matches, national team games, and transfer dealings.

“However, if the appeal is rejected, the ban will be reinstated,”he affirmed.

More importantly, Nik Erman warned that matches played during the suspension period could still be impacted if the final ruling goes against Malaysia.

“If the appeal fails, results from matches involving the banned players will be annulled, similar to previous matches as per FIFA’s ruling,”he said.

This raises concerns for upcoming fixtures, especially the match between Vietnam and Malaysia at Thien Truong Stadium (Nam Dinh) on March 31, as part of the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Currently, Malaysia leads Group F with 15 points from 5 matches, ahead of Vietnam (12 points), Laos (3 points), and Nepal (0 points).