The report showed how Facundo Garces, Gabriel Arrocha, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel — all born outside Malaysia — were granted Malaysian nationality in a process supervised by the FAM.

The players claimed their grandparents were born in Malaysia but FIFA was able to obtain birth certificates that had significant discrepancies with those submitted by FAM to show the players’ Malaysian lineage.

“Players admitted at the hearing that they did not read any of the application documents submitted to the Malaysian government, including the part which concerned the declaration that they had lived for 10 years in Malaysia,” FIFA said.

“The players explained that following the submission of documents, FAM undertook the bureaucratic steps necessary for the players’ naturalization.”

Discrepancies in birth certificates

FIFA described how one player, Arrocha, claimed: “My grandfather was born in Venezuela and my grandmother in Spain… I mean Malaysia, sorry,” while expressing confusion about discrepancies in birth certificates.

FIFA also directed the Secretariat to notify criminal authorities in Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.

“It is imperative that the relevant authorities are informed so that appropriate criminal investigations and proceedings may be pursued,” FIFA said.