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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for allegedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for one year.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority reiterated its claims about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe 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 Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a form of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings.

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

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document states that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"Initial documentation indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to FIFA's report in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the statement said.

The governing body will submit an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Context and Political Reactions

Southeast Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's sports minister, the official, stated in a statement that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's composition, the team is now ranked 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 the upcoming Thursday.