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

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football authority reiterated its assertions about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

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

The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

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

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

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

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

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the announcement said.

The association will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Context and Political Reactions

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

The country's sports minister, the official, said in a release that "FAM needs to finish 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 let down," she added.

Present Situation and Upcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.