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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for allegedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football authority restated its claims about falsified papers in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification constitutes, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document states that FAM admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a statement on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement said.

The governing body will present an official appeal of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Responses

South-east Asian nations have recently pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands players from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a statement that "the football association must finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure from the global authority."

"Supporters are upset, hurt and disappointed," she added.

Present Status and Forthcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty regarding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.