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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to sanction the body for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

"Document falsification represents, pure and simple, a form of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles 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 Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the documentation provided," it noted.

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The association will present an official appeal of the international body's decision, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Context and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, said in a statement that "the football association needs to 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 disappointed," she remarked.

Present Status and Forthcoming Games

Despite uncertainty regarding the national team's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.