Malaysian club faces risk of elimination from Southeast Asian tournament

Malaysia's Johor Darul Tazim (JDT) club is at risk of being removed from the Southeast Asian Champions Cup for utilizing ineligible naturalized players.

Malaysia's Johor Darul Tazim club is facing the threat of elimination from the 2025/2026 Southeast Asian Champions Cup despite having secured a semifinal spot. The issue stems from the club allegedly using improperly naturalized players registered as domestic players, potentially violating regulations on the number of foreign players.

Malaysia's Harian Metro newspaper reported: “Johor Darul Tazim's achievement of reaching the semifinals of the 2025-2026 Southeast Asian Champions Cup could be revoked if the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) concludes that the Malaysian club used players not in compliance with regulations.”.

According to tournament rules, each team is only allowed to use a maximum of seven foreign players per match. However, Malaysian media states: “The regulations for the 2025-2026 Southeast Asian Champions Cup permit each club to use only seven foreign players per match. However, Johor Darul Tazim exceeded this limit in matches of Group B during the group stage. In the match against Lion City Sailors (Singapore), the Malaysian club used eight foreign players and won 4-0. In the match against Bangkok United (Thailand), Johor Darul Tazim utilized ten foreign players (they won 3-1).”.

The cause of the incident is believed to be related to the group of naturalized players within Johor Darul Tazim's squad. Players such as Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel were previously counted as domestic players, but following the latest ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), this status is no longer recognized.

Harian Metro analyzed: “The CAS ruling on March 5th ruled that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) lost its case against FIFA, and the Malaysian player status of Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel is not recognized.”.

If the tournament organizers determine that Johor Darul Tazim violated the rules, the Malaysian club could face severe penalties. “Therefore, if the organizers of the 2025/2026 Southeast Asian Champions Cup determine that Johor Darul Tazim violated tournament regulations, the Malaysian club will be awarded a 0-3 defeat in both aforementioned matches. The official decision from AFF and the Southeast Asian Champions Cup organizers may be announced soon, as the regional tournament's semifinals are scheduled for next May.”.

If this scenario occurs, Johor Darul Tazim will lose six points from those two matches. Consequently, the Malaysian club's points would drop from 11 to 5, losing its leading position in Group B. The three clubs Svay Rieng, Lion City Sailors, and Bangkok United would each have 7 points, and the semifinal spot is likely to be awarded to one of these three representatives instead of Johor Darul Tazim.