FIFA president set to visit Malaysia during ASEAN Summit amid naturalised player scandal

KUALA LUMPUR: The president of international football governing body FIFA, Gianni Infantino, is set to make an official visit to Malaysia in conjunction with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit to be held from Oct 26 to 28.

Infantino is expected to witness the signing of an ASEAN football development agreement, a source from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) told news agency Bernama.

He is also expected to visit the National Training Centre in Putrajaya, which will allow FIFA representatives to assess the facilities set up to support the vision for Malaysian football.

He is set to view the Football for Schools programme aimed at increasing participation in the sport among students.

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Infantino’s visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen strategic ties with FIFA and seek support for infrastructure, coaching and community programmes, Bernama reported. His last visit to Malaysia was in April 2019.

Infantino’s trip comes amid a national football scandal in Malaysia, although Bernama’s report did not state if his visit was linked in any way to the ongoing case.

FIFA ruled last month that the FAM and seven naturalised players had used forged or falsified birth certificates of the players’ grandparents to secure their eligibility to play for the national team.

FIFA fined the FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (US$438,960) and fined the players 2,000 Swiss francs each. The players are also suspended from all football-related activities for a year.

The players are Argentina-born Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca; Spain-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui; Dutch-born Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano and Brazil-born Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo.

The FAM’s and players’ alleged conduct “constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned”, Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA’s disciplinary committee, said in his decision.

The seven naturalised footballers played in Malaysia’s 4-0 victory against Vietnam in an AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Jun 10, with two of them each scoring a goal.

FAM deputy president S Sivasundaram maintains the seven players were naturalised in accordance with Malaysian law.

The FAM will form an independent committee to investigate what it said was a “technical error” that led to the FIFA sanctions, and has suspended FAM secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman.

The FAM lodged an appeal against FIFA’s ruling on Oct 14 and the outcome will be known on Oct 30.

The 47th ASEAN Summit and related meetings from Oct 26 to 28 will be the culmination of Malaysia's ASEAN chairmanship in 2025, and attendees will include United States President Donald Trump and leaders from the region.

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