Hanoi, 4 June, 2025 – The origin of Malaysia’s new naturalized player, Facundo Garces (currently playing for Alaves in La Liga), remains a mystery. If the player is used illegally, Malaysia could face heavy penalties from FIFA.
A few days ago, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) unexpectedly announced the successful naturalization of center-back Facundo Garces. He is a player of European caliber, currently playing for Alaves in La Liga (Spain).
Currently, Facundo Garces is valued at 1.2 million euros by the transfer website Transfermarkt, making him the most valuable player in the Malaysia national team.
However, the origin of Facundo Garces has been a major topic of controversy in Malaysia in recent days. No Malaysian newspaper has addressed the background of this Argentina-born center-back.
According to FIFA regulations, a naturalized player representing another country’s national team must have heritage (from grandparents) or meet residency requirements. For residency, the player must live in the country where they seek citizenship for at least 5 consecutive years after turning 18. Facundo Garces has never played professionally in Malaysia, so he cannot meet the residency requirement.
The unclear bloodline connection of Facundo Garces to Malaysia further complicates the situation. According to journalist Avinehwaran, Garces has a Malaysian grandmother. However, this is just personal information and has not been verified by any documentation. The Football Association of Malaysia has neither confirmed nor denied this information.
In the past, the Timor Leste national team was involved in a scandal related to the illegal naturalization of players. In 2017, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared that 9 Timor Leste naturalized players were ineligible because they did not meet the requirements. As a result, Timor Leste was banned from the 2023 Asian Cup and had to revise their player search system.
If Malaysia follows in Timor Leste’s footsteps, they could face similar heavy penalties. The Indonesian newspaper Bola emphasized: “The naturalization process for Facundo Garces must be transparent and comply with FIFA regulations. Otherwise, Malaysia could face severe penalties from FIFA if the naturalization process for Garces is later proven invalid.”
Notably, just before the match against Vietnam, Malaysia welcomed several other naturalized players, including Imanol Machuca, Rodrigo Holgado (from Argentina), Joao Figueiredo (from Brazil), and Jon Irazabal (from Spain). These are all quick naturalization cases like Garces, raising doubts about their origins.
The match between Vietnam and Malaysia will take place at 20:00 on June 10 at Bukit Jalil Stadium. The winning team will have a significant chance of securing a spot in the 2027 Asian Cup.
Kim Chi
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