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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. 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 four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, 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 Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that FAM conceded it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

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

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

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

"Claims that players 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the statement declared.

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

Regional Background and Political Reactions

Southeast Asian countries have lately pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a statement that "FAM must complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by FIFA."

"Fans are angry, disappointed and let down," she added.

Present Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the national team's composition, 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, facing Laos on Thursday.