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

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority restated its claims about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's document states that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's report in a statement on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the announcement declared.

The governing body will present an official appeal of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have recently pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association must finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure from FIFA."

"Supporters are upset, disappointed and disappointed," she remarked.

Current Status and Forthcoming Games

Despite uncertainty regarding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.