Machuca, Holgado, and Garcés were immediately cleared after the decision by the international body, which annulled the suspension for alleged forgery
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After the FIFA suspension handed down a couple of months ago, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favor of the Argentine footballers Imanol Machuca, Rodrigo Holgado and Facundo Garcés, who represented Malaysia's national team and annulled the sanction that had been imposed on them.
The players, together with four other footballers, had been suspended for 12 months and fined 2,000 Swiss francs each, accused of an alleged falsification of documents in order to be able to join the Asian national team.
The players had been drafted for the match against Vietnam, played in June 2025 in the third round of the Qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. As a result of that episode, FIFA also sanctioned the Football Association of Malaysia withthree matches forfeited and a fine of nearly half a million dollars.
La FIFA habia sancionado duramente tanto a los jugadores como a la Federación malasiamala
With CAS's decision, the seven footballers involved were officially cleared to play immediately. In addition to the three Argentines, the Spaniards Gabriel Felipe Arrocha (Unionistas, Spain) and Jon Irazábal Iraurgui (Johor, Malaysia), the Brazilian João Vitor Brandão Figueiredo (Johor), and the Dutchman Héctor Alejandro Hevel Serrano (Johor) will also be able to return to competition.
In Machuca's case, who at the time of the sanction was playing for Vélez, he had returned in December to Fortaleza, which was relegated to Brazil's Serie B. After the favorable ruling became known, the forward posted an Instagram story wearing Fortín's jersey, which could indicate a possible return to Guillermo Barros Schelotto's team.
Meanwhile, Facundo Garcés will be able to play again for Alavés, in the first division of Spanish football, while Rodrigo Holgado will remain available for América de Cali, after being left without regulatory impediments to compete.
