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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to sanction the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for one year.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football authority restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

Each of the individuals – 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 fined $2,500.

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

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

"Document falsification constitutes, plain and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a sharp contrast to the documentation provided," it noted.

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

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided to date," the statement said.

The association will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Political Responses

Southeast Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

"Fans are angry, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Present Situation and Upcoming Games

Despite uncertainty surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.