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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the country for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority restated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

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

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document states that the Malaysian association admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.

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

FAM responded to the global body's allegations in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that players 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement declared.

The association will present an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Responses

Southeast Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, the official, stated in a release that "the football association must complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

"Fans are upset, hurt and let down," she remarked.

Current Situation and Upcoming Games

Despite doubt surrounding the squad's composition, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on Thursday.