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Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal, and Héctor Hevel have been granted permission to resume their footballing careers with immediate effect
In a statement, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had approved a stay of execution, temporarily lifting the global ban.
"This means the 12-month suspension from all football activities imposed by FIFA on the seven players has been temporarily lifted," FAM stated.
The national body added that Garcés, Holgado, Machuca, Figueiredo, Palmero, Irazabal, and Hevel are now eligible to participate in all matches until CAS reaches a final ruling.
The original suspension, confirmed on 26 September 2025, stemmed from a serious violation involving forged documents used to verify player eligibility
The eligibility saga allowed the players to feature in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam during the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers last June.
FIFA hit FAM with a fine of 350,000 Swiss Francs (about RM1.8 million), while the seven players were each fined 2,000 Swiss Francs (about RM10,217)
FAM initially sought to reduce these penalties, but their appeal was rejected by the Fifa Appeals Committee on 3 November 2025.
