Alaves Defender Facundo Garces Suspendedโข Following FIFA Ruling on False Naturalization Documents
Vitoria-Gasteiz, alava, Basqueโฃ Country – Spanishโ La liga club โAlaves has sidelined defender Facundo Garces after FIFA โdetermined he was improperly naturalized to play โคfor the โฃMalaysian national team. The suspension stems from discrepancies โinโฃ documentation submitted to FIFA regarding Garces’s grandmother’s birthplace, a key requirementโ for his Malaysian citizenship.
Garces, 26, โreceived a Malaysianโข passport on June 2, 2025, through lineage tracing to his grandmother. He later played twice forโ Malaysia โbefore FIFA investigated and found the documentation asserting his grandmother’sโ Malaysian birth to be inaccurate. FIFA’s Disciplinary Committeeโ issued sanctions against Garces on โSeptember 26, 2025, prompting Alaves to initially exclude him from their September 27th La Liga match against Mallorca.
Alaves responded to FIFA’s punishment with two official statements, affirming respect for the ruling while upholding the principle of presumption of innocence and expressing hope for a swift resolution. The club subsequently imposed a temporary suspensionโ on garces on September 29, 2025, removingโฃ him from team selection until the legal process โconcludes.
“We respondedโ to FIFA’s punishment with respect, upholds the principle of presumption of innocence, and hopes that the case can be resolved as quicklyโข as possible,” Alaves stated.
Garces last appeared in a โmatch for alaves on Septemberโ 24, 2025. The situation raises โquestions about the integrity ofโข player naturalization processes โand potential repercussions for โboth the player and the Malaysian โขFootball Association (FAM). โAsโ of late October 2025,โ nearly a month โขafter FIFA’s initial statement, no positive developments have โemerged regarding Garces’s case.