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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about doctored papers in a official investigation report published on Monday.

Each of the players – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the concept of fair play," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that FAM conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the documentation."

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

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

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

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

Southeast Asian Context and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, the official, stated in a statement that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Present Status and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.