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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's decision to sanction the organization for supposedly forging the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified documentation in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report claims that FAM admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the statement said.

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

Southeast Asian Context and Official Reactions

Southeast Asian nations have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations made by FIFA."

"Supporters are angry, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Present Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.