FIFA to Ban THIS Team After Fielding Illegal Players Ahead of World Cup 2026

The Malaysian football team have enjoyed a lot of dominance in their international matches in 2025, especially when it comes to recording crucial victories in their matches in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification stages. However, Malaysia have now been entangled in a FIFA forgery scandal, and this Malaysian football controversy could have major repercussions for the national team, as we now delve into the Malaysia team ban.

Why Have Malaysia Been Dragged Into FIFA Forgery Scandal?

The Football Association Malaysia (FAM) has encouraged the national team to be bulked up with players of Malaysian origin who are playing in different countries around the world. However, it seems that the federation has not been totally clean when it comes to integrating these foreign players into their national team with the necessary legal documents.

The Malaysian football team has now been caught up in a FIFA forgery scandal because they have been found guilty of illegal registration of as many as seven foreign players in their crucial matches in 2025. The Malaysian football federation has been found to have forged fake documents for these foreign players, who were not natural Malaysian citizens but were shown to have acquired Malaysian passports to be able to play for the national team.

However, the Malaysian football controversy has seen these seven foreign players playing illegally for Malaysia with the help of forged passports. The FIFA forgery scandal has also noted that these illegally registered players played in Malaysia's big wins over Nepal and Vietnam in their 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers earlier in 2025. Moreover, three of these foreign players, like Jose Figueiredo (originally from Brazil), Rodrigo Holgado (from Argentina), and Hector Hevel (from the Netherlands), had crucial goal contributions in Malaysia's wins over Nepal and Vietnam in their AFC Asian Cup qualification matches.

What Ban Did Malaysia Face For Breaking FIFA Rules?

As they broke the rules set by FIFA, Malaysia have now been struck with a FIFA ban. The Malaysian Team Ban will see the Malaysian Football Association be forced to pay up 350,000 Swiss Francs ($433,200) fine for breaking the rules. Moreover, the FIFA ban will also see the seven players who played with forged documents given 12-month bans for their actions, during which they will not be able to play at the international level for any team and will need to secure legal Malaysian passports before being able to play for Malaysia again.

Moreover, the Malaysia team ban could also affect their 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers campaign. FIFA are likely to overturn their recent wins over Nepal and Vietnam, giving 3-0 wins to their opponents as well. As a result, Malaysia, who are first in their Asian Cup qualification group with 12 points from four games, might see their points total drop to six points and fall down to second place in the table - making it extremely tough for them to secure qualification for the 2027 Asian Cup.