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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the country for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified documentation in a official investigation report published on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Document Falsification

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document states that FAM admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the statement declared.

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

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born players from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM must complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure from FIFA."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Despite doubt surrounding the squad's composition, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on the upcoming Thursday.