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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for allegedly forging the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the country for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the players after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated 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 Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

"Forgery represents, pure and simple, a type of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on the following day, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

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

Regional Background and Official Responses

Southeast Asian countries have recently pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born players from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, stated in a statement that "FAM must finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure from the global authority."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing Laos on Thursday.