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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body restated its claims about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

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

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery represents, pure and simple, a type of dishonesty," said FIFA in its findings.

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

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

"Initial documentation showed a sharp contrast to the documentation provided," it said.

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's report in a official communication on the following day, maintaining the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far," the statement said.

The governing body will submit 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 countries have recently pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, the official, said in a statement that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the squad's composition, the team is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, facing Laos on the upcoming Thursday.