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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to sanction the organization for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football authority reiterated its claims about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

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

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification constitutes, plain and simple, a form of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the papers."

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

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's report in a official communication on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been provided to date," the statement said.

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

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, the official, said in a statement that "FAM must finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations from the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, disappointed and let down," she remarked.

Current Status and Forthcoming Matches

Despite doubt surrounding the national team's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.