Malaysia Football Association's Deadline to Appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport

The Football Association of Malaysia has not made any official statement about appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, even though time is running out.

After being FIFA rejected the appeal regarding the seven naturalized players' illegal registration, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) showed determination to overturn the sanction by continuing to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

However, as of now (December 8), there has been no official information confirming that FAM has filed an appeal to CAS to protect the eligibility of the seven players and avoid penalties for both the national team and the association. Notably, today is also the final day for FAM to complete legal procedures to submit to CAS before the 21-day deadline officially expires.

At the end of last month (November 28), the newspaper Berita Harian reported that it proactively contacted CAS via email to obtain the latest updates on the matter. In the response sent to BH Online, CAS communications representative, Ms. Vanessa Tracey, confirmed that the organization has not yet received any appeal from FAM.

This could be seen as a sign that FAM is losing interest in contesting with FIFA and may accept the penalties previously imposed by the organization.

If this indeed happens, the Malaysian national team is likely to face severe sanctions from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) due to violations in two matches during the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, against Nepal and Vietnam in Group F.

The harshest penalty in this case might be a 0-3 forfeit loss in both matches mentioned, dramatically altering the group standings. This would allow Vietnam to take the top spot in the group, securing a direct ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup finals.

Beyond the current penalties, Malaysia could also face suspension from regional football activities for a certain period as a deterrent against falsifying naturalization documents.

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