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

The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football authority restated its claims about falsified papers in a official investigation report released on Monday.

Each of the players – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report claims that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it said.

FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The association will submit an formal challenge of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, stated in a statement that "the football association must finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations made by FIFA."

"Fans are angry, disappointed and let down," she remarked.

Present Status and Forthcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.