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

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about doctored papers in a official investigation report released on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil win over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined $2,500.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document states that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.

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

FAM responded to the global body's allegations in a official communication on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The association will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Regional Background and Official Responses

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

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

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty surrounding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.