Naturalized players of unknown origin are about to 'take over the airwaves', causing controversy in Malaysian football again

According to Malaysian football experts, current changes including the national team's player naturalization policy and foreign player quotas in the national championship only benefit 'some teams' more than others.

Malaysian football discriminates between rich and poor?

The Malaysian Football League (MFL), which runs Malaysia’s top division, the Super League, has continued to be controversial in adjusting the quota of foreign players allowed to play in a match from the 2025-2026 season. Some have even suggested that the timing and structure of the change may benefit some teams more than others, according to the New Straits Times on July 11.

Brazilian-born player Joao Figueiredo, after naturalizing and playing for the Malaysian national team, joined the Johor Darul Ta'zim club and is considered a domestic player.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

"The issue is not just about numbers, but also about planning. The main change is the removal of the second ASEAN (Southeast Asian) player from the playing quota. It sounds neutral, but it can change the balance in the most subtle ways and only benefit certain teams," Malaysian football expert Dr Pekan Ramli said.

Accordingly, MFL has just adjusted the quota of foreign players playing in the Malaysia Super League in the 2025-2026 season, from 7 to 6 people, while still maintaining the registration limit of 15 foreign players, but not requiring all clubs to register enough of this number.

This new regulation, with 6 foreign players on the field (plus 3 substitutes), including 4 foreign players, plus 1 player from Asia and 1 ASEAN. Previously, there were 7 players (plus 2 substitutes), including 4 foreign players, 1 Asian and 2 from ASEAN.

Explaining this adjustment, MFL said that they reduced 1 player slot from ASEAN to increase the number of domestic players on the field, aiming to balance between domestic and foreign players in the starting lineup of the teams on the match day.

However, the reality is completely different. Because some clubs in Malaysia, mainly from Johor Darul Ta'zim Club, own a large number of naturalized players and they are considered domestic players, so they will definitely take this slot.

"Removing a player from ASEAN to play, unintentionally creates a big advantage for clubs with more abundant resources, including having players of origin or naturalized and focusing on a large number of foreign players. Malaysian native players in this case also do not have many opportunities to play, because some of these teams will take advantage of the reduced ASEAN player position, to give opportunities to naturalized players. With the current naturalized Malaysian players, in essence they are almost 100% foreign players, the only difference is that on paper they are domestic players," explained Dr Pekan Ramli.

Malaysian football continues to debate naturalization policy, now affecting the national championship

Photo: Ngoc Linh

The most recent naturalized Malaysian players are from Brazil, Argentina and Spain, with their ancestry being in the country still being debated. Many of them have returned to play for Johor Darul Ta'zim, with the latest being Nacho Mendez, bringing the number of players with naturalized or native backgrounds to eight. They are all considered domestic players.

Therefore, clubs like Johor Darul Ta'zim or possibly Selangor FC, who have a stable squad of players, will be the ones to benefit the most from the MFL's change.

While most of the remaining clubs in the Malaysia Super League do not have enough financial resources to compete to recruit naturalized foreign players and foreign players, they often take advantage of 2 ASEAN player slots with relatively better quality than local players and reasonable transfer prices, to maintain balance in the squad.

However, now their chances are significantly reduced, as there is only one spot left. Meanwhile, stronger clubs are now even stronger because they can bring in higher quality naturalized players who are also considered domestic players, according to the New Straits Times .

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-nhap-tich-khong-ro-nguon-goc-sap-chiem-song-bong-da-malaysia-lai-tranh-cai-185250711122200936.htm