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

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body reiterated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 win over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Document Falsification

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the concept of fair play," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to independently verify the validity of the papers."

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

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The governing body will submit an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Responses

Southeast Asian nations have lately pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "FAM needs to complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Current Situation and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on Thursday.