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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all participated 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 group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart 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 clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body'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."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's report in a statement on the following day, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that players 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far," the announcement declared.

The governing body will present an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Regional Background and Political Reactions

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, the official, said 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 from FIFA."

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

Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches

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