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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize 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 Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The global football governing body reiterated its assertions about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 win over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

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

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

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

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's allegations in a statement on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the statement said.

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

Regional Context and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, the official, said in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

"Fans are upset, disappointed and disappointed," she remarked.

Current Situation and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting Laos on Thursday.