In the latest twist to the falsified document sage which was thrown Malaysian football into disarray, world football governing body FIFA will now launch a formal investigation into the internal operations of the Football Association of Malaysia, as well as notifying criminal authorities of five of countries of forgery offences.
On Tuesday morning, FIFA released the full 63-page report for the "motivated decision" which FAM requested in order to then take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, after their initial appeal was dismissed on Nov. 3.
The appeal is surrounding punishments imposed on FAM and seven players -- Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, Hector Hevel and Jon Irazábal -- for using falsified documents to obtain citizenship in order to represent Malaysia at international level, although none of them had previously resided in the country.
Although initially gaining approval, the players have since been deemed to have gained eligibility using forged documents to prove they had Malaysian heritage through a grandparent.
In a turn of events that could be potentially damning for FAM, FIFA's report stated that screenshots of WhatsApp conversations involving where players shared copies of their respective grandparent-in-question's birth certificate showed they had not been born in Malaysia.
"Of particular importance", FIFA also quoted Palmero -- whose actual name is Gabriel Felipe Arrocha -- saying at the hearing: "My grandfather was born in Venezuela and my grandmother in Spain... I mean Malaysia, sorry."
In concluding that FAM had no grounds in their appeal to overturn the decision, FIFA not only upheld the sanctions that had previously been imposed but felt it was "necessary to draw additional remarks".
Primarily, FIFA found "compelling reasons to initiate further inquiries" to ensure the misconduct is fully investigated.
As a result, the secretariat of FIFA's disciplinary committee has been instructed "to take immediate steps to launch a formal investigation into the international operations of the FAM".
Furthermore, the report stated that "given the nature and gravity of the offenses - particularly the forgery of official documents", the secretariat will take relevant action in informing competent criminal authorities of Malaysia, as well as Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and Spain -- where the players' grandparents-in-question were stated to have hailed from in the phony documents.
FAM responded with a brief 127-word release later on Tuesday, declaring that it had accepted FIFA's reasoning behind rejecting its appeal and will initiate proceedings to bring the case before CAS -- "to ensure justice is upheld and to uphold the integrity of the player eligibility process".