KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — The noise surrounding the seven heritage players issue is getting louder by the day, but Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski remains unfazed and continues with his plan ahead of their Group F match against Nepal in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifiers on November 18.
The Australian coach said he preferred to focus on what he and his players could control rather than be distracted by the noises and speculation.
“For me, it’s easy. It’s not a problem because all I focus on is what I can control and that’s to get today right, to get every day right.
“What people say or think is out of my control. I just hope I can make Malaysia proud by the way we play, our football identity, the results we get, and finish the 2025 international year undefeated playing good football, scoring goals and keeping clean sheets.” he said during a press conference today.
Previously Fifa rejected the appeal made by FAM and the seven players involved, namely Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel.
The Fifa Appeals Committee upheld the sanctions imposed by the governing body’s Disciplinary Committee against FAM and the seven heritage players for offences related to forgery of documents under Article 22 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code (FDC).
Following this, FAM was ordered to pay a fine of CHF350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million), while each player was fined CHF2,000 (about RM11,000).
The seven players were also suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities.
Meanwhile Cklamovski said he was inspired by the passion shown by his players, who remain committed despite uncertainty surrounding the eligibility of several heritage players.
“I’m inspired to work every day with the players we’ve got. There’s a special energy in the group, disciplined, focused and professional.
“We can’t take things for granted. We need to work hard, stay humble and keep building our football because we have a tough opponent on Tuesday night,” he said.
In the meantime, Cklamovski said all the players called up for the national camp are expected to report today.
Cklamovski added that he was forced to drop two players who had previously featured for Harimau Malaya, namely Romel Morales and Muhammad Afiq Fazail after the former sustained an injury and the latter faced personal issues.
“Both unavailable, Romel caught a little bit of an injury. For Jambu (Afiq) family reasons where he needs to be with his family for now,” he said.
