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

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority reiterated its claims about doctored papers in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.

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

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented to date," the announcement declared.

The governing body will present an official appeal of FIFA's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the national authorities.

Regional Background and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM needs to finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

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

Present Status and Upcoming Games

Despite uncertainty surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.