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

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and banned the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football authority restated its assertions about doctored papers in a official investigation report released on Monday.

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

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it said.

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the statement said.

The association will present an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Regional Background and Political Responses

Southeast Asian countries have lately pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing Laos on Thursday.