March 5 : The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday eased sanctions on seven footballers who played for Malaysia using falsified naturalisation documents, ruling they will serve a 12-month suspension from official matches only.
Deportivo Alaves’ Facundo Garces was among seven players banned for a year by FIFA in September, after the soccer governing body found that doctored documentation had been used so that they could play in an Asian Cup qualifier for Malaysia against Vietnam.
The other players were Gabriel Arrocha (Unionistas de Salamanca), Rodrigo Holgado (America de Cali), Imanol Machuca (Velez Sarsfield), Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel (all Johor Darul Ta’zim).
At the time, the group was handed a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities.
“After considering the evidence, the CAS Panel found that the infraction of falsifying eligibility documents was established and that the 12-month ban from playing matches was a reasonable and proportionate sanction for the players, given their complicit responsibility in this fraud,” CAS said in a statement.
“However, in accordance with Article 22 FDC, the Panel decided that the ban should only apply to matches and not to all football-related activities. This means the players can resume training with their respective clubs during the ban.”
CAS, however, upheld FIFA’s CHF 350,000 ($450,000) fine on the Football Association of Malaysia.
