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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for allegedly forging the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football authority reiterated its assertions about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Forgery

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

"Forging documents undermines the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

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

The organization also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted 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 fake documents' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the announcement declared.

The association will present an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using original documents that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have recently pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a release that "the football association must finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by FIFA."

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

Current Situation and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's composition, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.