S’pore’s defeat to M’sia becomes 3-0 victory after FIFA says ineligible football players were fielded

FIFA declares three football matches as losses for Malaysia, including 4 Sept friendly against S’pore

FIFA has overturned the Singapore national football team’s defeat to Malaysia on 4 Sept and awarded the Lions a 3-0 win.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said in a statement on Wednesday (17 Dec) that FIFA ruled Malaysia had fielded ineligible players.

Malaysia fielded ineligible players for three football matches, says FIFA

The punishment followed FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee meeting on 12 Dec.

It found that FAM had breached its disciplinary code by fielding ineligible players in three international matches, namely:

• a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde on 29 May
• a 2-1 win over Singapore on 4 Sept
• a 1-0 win over Palestine on 8 Sept

FIFA declared all three games as 3-0 losses for Malaysia.

The Disciplinary Committee also fined FAM 10,000 Swiss francs (S$16,250).

S’pore was defeated 2-1 in KL

Singapore was, in fact, defeated 2-1 in the friendly match on 4 Sept at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia took the lead in the 25th minute with a goal by Stuart Wilkin, according to the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).

Things went from bad to worse for the Lions in the second half. Joao Figueiredo, one of the players FIFA later named as ineligible, scored Malaysia’s second goal in the 54th minute.

Substitute Ilhan Fandi grabbed a consolation goal. He blasted a powerful long-range effort into the bottom corner in the 72nd minute.

However, it did not prevent Singapore from losing.

While the match was a friendly, it counts towards Singapore’s FIFA ranking.

FIFA claims FAM doctored seven players’ birth certificates

The FIFA decision is the latest punishment for Malaysia in an ongoing saga over alleged forged documents.

On 26 Sept, FIFA said FAM had used doctored documentation in its eligibility enquiries for seven players, so that it could field them in its games.

It thus suspended all seven players from football-related activities for 12 months. It fined each of them 2,000 Swiss francs (S$3,250). FIFA also fined FAM 350,000 Swiss francs (S$567,000).

FAM filed an appeal, but FIFA rejected it on 3 Nov. FIFA later released a 63-page report stating that FAM and the players used forged or falsified birth certificates of the players’ grandparents to prove the players were eligible to play for the national team.

FAM had also acknowledged that certain members of its secretariat made “administrative adjustments” to the players’ birth certificates, FIFA said.

FAM claimed that someone made these alterations without the knowledge or authorisation of the Executive Committee, the General Secretary, or the players themselves.

FIFA added that it would launch a formal investigation into the FAM’s internal operations. It aims to identify those responsible for document falsification, among other things.

On 8 Dec, FAM said it had submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) about the case.

Also read: Football Association of Malaysia investigated for doctoring birth certificates of foreign players

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Featured image adapted from Football Association of Singapore on Facebook and Facebook.