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

FIFA's Claims and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body restated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA'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 basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates showed a sharp contrast to the documentation provided," it said.

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that players 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the statement declared.

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

Southeast Asian Context and Political Responses

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

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, disappointed and let down," she added.

Present Situation and Forthcoming Games

Despite uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on Thursday.