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

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the players after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football governing body restated its assertions about doctored papers in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the concept of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to independently verify the validity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates showed a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.

The organization also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM responded to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement said.

The association will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Background and Official Responses

Southeast Asian nations have recently engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born players from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Matches

Despite doubt surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.