How Malaysia Faked Grandparent Birth Records for Foreign Players

In early October 2025, FIFA severely punished Malaysia’s football association (FAM), concluding that it had submitted forged documents to misrepresent seven foreign-born players as having Malaysian heritage. But the conspiracy may have gone far beyond the federation.

FIFA upheld sanctions announced in September. FAM was fined over $430,000 and the seven players involved were banned from football for 12 months. FIFA’s investigation found that birth certificates for the players’ grandparents had been falsified, a violation of the rules governing player eligibility.

This scandal centers on FIFA’s so-called “grandfather rule,” which allows a player to represent a country if a parent or grandparent was born there (or if the player has lived in that country for a certain number of years). Malaysia used this rule to invent family histories for players in order to fast-track their eligibility for the national team.

Some of Malaysia’s illegal players celebrate after their win against Vietnam. Ph…