This Friday, FIFA announced a very harsh one-year ban from playing for seven footballers due to alleged document falsification amid the process to represent the Malaysia national team, whose Federation will also face punishment from the governing body.
Among those involved are Argentines Imanol Machuca, Facundo Garcés, and Rodrigo Holgado, current players for Vélez, Spain’s Alavés, and Colombia’s América de Cali.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed sanctions on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven players—Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano—for infringing art. 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code regarding the falsification of documents,” stated the first paragraph of the statement released on FIFA’s official website.
The aforementioned article focused on cases of falsification states the following in its first subsection: “Any person who, in football-related activities, counterfeits a document, falsifies an authentic document, or uses a falsified document shall be sanctioned with a fine and a suspension of at least six matches or for a specific period not inferior to 12 months.”
“An association or a club may be held liable for an act of falsification committed by one of its officials and/or players,” the second subsection adds.
The report stems from an inquiry made by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to the organization regarding call-up criteria. “In this process, it used manipulated documentation in order to field the aforementioned players,” they warned in the missive.
The seven accused footballers represented that national team in the 4-0 thrashing of Vietnam on June 10 in a match valid for the third round of the qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027.
“Subsequently, FIFA received a complaint related to the call-up criteria of Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano,” the message noted.
After carrying out the usual procedures, the Disciplinary Committee evaluated the relevant documentation and imposed a series of economic and sporting sanctions, highlighting “a twelve-month ban” on the seven aforementioned players “from participating in any kind of football-related activity, which shall take effect from the date of notification of the decision.” They must also pay 2,500 Swiss francs (USD 2,500) each, and the FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (USD 438,000).
The FAM confirmed that it will appeal FIFA’s decision and reported that there were no irregularities from its perspective: “Both the affected players and the Federation itself have acted in good faith and with total transparency throughout the entire process.” It affirmed that they managed “all documentation and related procedures in a transparent manner, following the established guidelines.” Next, it explained: “FIFA had already examined the eligibility of the players in question and had given its official approval for them to represent Malaysia.”
The three Argentines made their debuts in that duel against Vietnam. Garcés, a 26-year-old central defender formerly of Colón de Santa Fe, played the full 90 minutes, while Holgado, a 30-year-old center-forward who came through San Lorenzo’s youth ranks and played for Gimnasia and Almagro, was substituted at the 73rd minute for Machuca himself, who is on loan at Vélez from Brazil’s Fortaleza until next December 31.
Imanol Machuca was not called up for the September friendlies featuring victories against Singapore (2-1) and Palestine (1-0), but Facundo Garcés played the entire first match and Rodrigo Holgado played 82 minutes of the second fixture.
Since his arrival at El Fortín, Machuca has accumulated 1,222 minutes spread across 22 matches with one goal and one assist, which came on the opening matchday of the Torneo Clausura in a 2-1 victory over Tigre in Liniers. He was part of the team’s campaign that was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, even playing 45 and 88 minutes in the first leg and return leg of the series against Racing, respectively.
On the other hand, Garcés is a regular starter for the Spanish team led by José Bordalás. He played every minute of Spain’s La Liga’s first six matches and received two yellow cards. He arrived at the Mendizorroza club at the beginning of the year from Colón and his defensive work was vital to save them from relegation last season.
In a different vein, Holgado has been an América de Cali player since January 2024, when he left Gimnasia. The former player of Chile’s Coquimbo, Audax Italiano, and Curicó Unido, among other teams, has scored 8 goals and provided 2 assists in 39 matches so far in 2025.
The remaining individuals involved have different origins. Gabriel Felipe Arrocha was born in Spain, is 23 years old, and plays as a left-back for Unionistas in Spain’s Third Division. João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo is a forward originally from Sao Paulo who played for Atlético Mineiro’s reserve team and currently plays for Malaysia’s Johor. He is a teammate at that club of Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano, a 29-year-old Dutch central midfielder, and defender Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, a 28-year-old center-back standing 1.87 meters tall.
FIFA’S FULL STATEMENT
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed sanctions on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven players—Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano—for infringing art. 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code regarding the falsification of documents.
The FAM had submitted inquiries to FIFA regarding call-up criteria and, in this process, used manipulated documentation in order to field the aforementioned players.
On June 10, 2025, the seven footballers represented the Malaysia national team in the match against Vietnam corresponding to the third round of the qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027. Subsequently, FIFA received a complaint related to the call-up criteria of Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano.
After initiating the usual procedures, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee evaluated all relevant documentation and has imposed the following sanctions:
The Football Association of Malaysia must pay a fine of CHF 350,000 to FIFA.
The players Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomás Garcés, Rodrigo Julián Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano must pay a fine of CHF 2,000 each to FIFA.
The aforementioned players will also be imposed a twelve-month ban from participating in any kind of football-related activity, which shall take effect from the date of notification of the decision.
Furthermore, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has referred the issue of the call-up criteria to represent the Malaysia national team to the FIFA Football Tribunal for its consideration.
The decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has been notified today to the FAM and the players. By virtue of the stipulations in the relevant provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, they have ten days to request the motivated decision, which will be published on legal.fifa.com should it be requested. This decision may be appealed before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
