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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the national team for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority restated its assertions about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

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 summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification represents, pure and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents undermines the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association admitted 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 showed a stark difference to the submitted papers," it noted.

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement declared.

The association will present an official appeal of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Responses

Southeast Asian nations have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a release that "the football association must complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations from FIFA."

"Fans are angry, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Present Status and Forthcoming Matches

Despite doubt surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.