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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the organization for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and Spain. The international football authority restated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

"Forgery represents, pure and simple, a form of cheating," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's document states that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that players 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided to date," the statement declared.

The governing body will present an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have lately engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "FAM must complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, disappointed and disappointed," she added.

Present Status and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's lineup, the team is now placed 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, meeting Laos on Thursday.