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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the organization for supposedly falsifying the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the players after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body restated its claims about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined $2,500.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification constitutes, pure and simple, a type of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's report states that FAM conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the validity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates showed a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's allegations in a official communication on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

The association will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, the official, said in a release that "FAM needs to complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Despite doubt regarding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.