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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has declared it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its claims about doctored documentation in a official investigation 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 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined $2,500.

The implicated group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Position on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"Initial documentation indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

"Claims that players 'obtained or were aware of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement declared.

The association will submit an official appeal of the international body's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Official Reactions

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

Malaysia's sports minister, the official, stated in a statement that "the football association must complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

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

Present Status and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt surrounding the national team's lineup, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, facing Laos on Thursday.