Malaysian Football 'Avoids Disaster'

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) can be considered to have "avoided disaster" when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chose to apply Article 56 in issuing sanctions related to the scandal of forged documents concerning seven naturalized players.

Sports and commercial lawyer, Nik Erman Nik Roseli, explained that the sanction under Article 56, concerning disqualification, is lighter than Article 61, which addresses forgery of documents and information.

According to him, the clear difference can be seen in the applicable fine amounts, where Article 61 stipulates a higher penalty.

He stated that the minimum fine under Article 61 is at least 79,130 RM, while under Article 56 it is only around 3,956 RM.

"The AFC's penalty against FAM is under Article 56, where if the violation is only discovered after the competition deadline has passed, a ban from future tournaments may be applied.

However, this penalty still allows the Harimau Malaya team to continue playing despite being deducted six points," he said.

Nik Erman said the situation would be different if Article 61 had been applied in this case.

According to him, the Malaysian national team would likely have been expelled from the current tournament and faced the risk of being barred from future competitions.

"Therefore, we can consider FAM to have avoided disaster when AFC chose Article 56. Why Article 56 was chosen instead of 61 is something AFC could explain," he said.

He also did not rule out the possibility that the decision was influenced by the prior action of the World Football Federation, which had previously applied sanctions for the same violation.

He said the legal principle does not allow a party to be punished twice for the same offense.

"It is possible that Article 56 is also easier to prove compared to Article 61," he said.

Previously, Malaysia's dream of qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup finals was shattered after AFC determined that the national team used ineligible players in two qualifying matches.

A meeting chaired by Jahangir Baglari determined FAM violated Article 56 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code in matches against Nepal and Vietnam.

Following that decision, Malaysia was handed 0-3 defeats against Nepal and Vietnam, leaving the national team with only nine points and one remaining match against Vietnam on March 31.