KUALA LUMPUR — Following Fifa’s decision to sanction seven naturalised Malaysian national football players over falsified eligibility documents, questions have emerged about who these players are.
All seven featured in Malaysia’s controversial 4-0 win against Vietnam on June 10 this year.
Here is a breakdown of their backgrounds, playing histories, and the immigration details now under scrutiny.
Perhaps the most high-profile player involved, Facundo Tomás Garcés is a 26-year-old centre-back who recently became the first naturalised Malaysian to play in Spain’s La Liga. After developing at Argentine club Colón de Santa Fe, he signed with Deportivo Alavés, making his La Liga debut in March 2025.
Garcés was controversially granted Malaysian citizenship on June 2, just days before his international debut in the game against Vietnam.
Gabriel Felipe Arrocha (Spain)
Also known as Gabriel Palmero, Arrocha is a 23-year-old Spanish-born left-back who received Malaysian citizenship on March 19.
He developed in the youth systems of Spanish clubs Tenisca and Las Palmas before a career that included stints with Las Palmas’ reserve teams and loan spells at Gimnástica Segoviana and Tenerife.
Currently on loan at Unionistas de Salamanca CF, Arrocha claims eligibility through unspecified Spanish-Malaysian ancestry, a connection that is now under investigation.
Rodrigo Julián Holgado (Argentina)
A 29-year-old forward, Rodrigo Julián Holgado has had an extensive career across South America.
He has played for clubs in Mexico (Albinegros de Orizaba), Chile (Coquimbo Unido, Audax Italiano), and Argentina (Gimnasia La Plata), and currently plays for América de Cali in Colombia.
Holgado, who scored on his debut for Malaysia, was granted citizenship on June 4 — also just before the Vietnam match — claiming eligibility through his grandmother, who was reportedly born in Malaysia.
The other sanctioned players
Less information is publicly available for the remaining four players, though their backgrounds follow similar patterns:
Imanol Javier Machuca (Argentina): A winger who claims Malaysian descent from Sabah through his mother.
João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo (Brazil): A forward whose Malaysian heritage is traced to a grandmother from Negeri Sembilan.
Jon Irazábal Iraurgui (Spain): A defender with reported Malaysian roots through his mother, also from Sabah.
Héctor Alejandro Hevel Serrano (Spain): Another naturalised player whose specific heritage claims and detailed career history have not been widely disclosed.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has said it will appeal the ban, arguing that their naturalisations had been previously approved under Fifa guidelines.
