KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Seven foreign-born players for Malaysia's national soccer team have been cleared to keep competing after the Court of Arbitration for Sport temporarily halted FIFA-imposed bans while their appeal is reviewed, Malaysia's soccer federation said Tuesday.
Last September, FIFAfined the Football Association of Malaysia350,000 Swiss francs ($450,000) for fake documents filed to naturalize the seven players, who were also fined and suspended for a year. The players stemmed from Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain but had been naturalized in an apparent breach of FIFA rules and played in a qualifying game for the 2027 Asian Cup that Malaysia won against Vietnam.
The Malaysian federation later took the case to sport's highest court based in Switzerland after FIFArejected its appeal.
The federation said in a statement Tuesday that the Court of Aribitration for Sport had approved their request for a stay of execution, allowing the seven players to continue participating in all football-related activities until a final ruling is made. The players involved are Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal and Héctor Hevel, all of whom have featured for the Harimau Malaya national team.
"This means that the 12-month suspension from all football activities imposed by FIFA on the seven players has been temporarily lifted," the federation said in a statement. "They are now allowed to continue their careers and participate in football-related activities until CAS makes a final ruling."
It did not say when a final ruling is expected.
Malaysian officials had claimed all seven players had a grandparent born in Malaysia, making them eligible to represent the country under FIFA rules. However,FIFA has saidits own investigators found contrasting information after they were "able to obtain the relevant original documents" from the origin countries of the players.
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