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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly forging the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 win over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

"Forgery represents, pure and simple, a form of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

FIFA's document claims that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the papers."

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

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

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

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association must finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations made by FIFA."

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Matches

Despite doubt regarding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.