No formal protests over Malaysia's naturalised players, says AFC
PETALING JAYA : The Asian Football Confederation has not received any official complaint regarding Malaysia's naturalised players following the national team's Asian Cup qualifier win against Vietnam last month.
AFC general-secretary Windsor Paul told FMT that the status of naturalised players was ultimately a matter for the world football governing body, Fifa.
'The status of players comes under the purview of Fifa. From my side, AFC has not received any official protest. And even if we did, we will forward it to Fifa,' he said.
This follows an Indonesian report claiming that Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam on June 10 may be overturned because some of Harimau Malaya's naturalised players were purportedly ineligible to represent the nation.
The report alleged that the result would be voided and Vietnam would be awarded a 3-0 win. It also said the Football Association of Malaysia could be fined up to US$2 million (RM9.4 million) and face further sanctions if Fifa finds evidence of document manipulation involving the heritage of players.
FAM dismissed the report as baseless, saying it had complied with the necessary procedures for the registration of the players.
Nine of the team's starting-11 in the game were naturalised players, with five of them – Joao Figueiredo, Rodrigo Holgado, Jon Irazabal, Facundo Garces and Imanol Machuca – receiving Fifa clearance just hours before kick-off.
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