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

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body reiterated its claims about doctored documentation in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil victory over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Forgery

"Forgery constitutes, pure and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

"Initial documentation indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the announcement declared.

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

Regional Context and Political Responses

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

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 have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.