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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for allegedly forging the nationality papers of seven overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority restated its claims about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – 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 twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group 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 hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a form of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the validity of the papers."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it noted.

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

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

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

The association will present an official appeal of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have lately engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, said in a release that "the football association must complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

"Fans are upset, disappointed and disappointed," she added.

Present Status and Upcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty regarding the national team's composition, the team is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.