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

FIFA's Claims and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about falsified documentation in a official investigation report released on Monday.

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

The accused group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a type of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report claims that FAM conceded it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the validity of the papers."

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

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that players 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the announcement declared.

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

Regional Background and Official Responses

Southeast Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, said in a release that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure made by the global authority."

"Fans are upset, hurt and let down," she added.

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Despite uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.