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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the country for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The global football governing body restated its assertions about doctored documentation in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.

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

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a form of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to independently verify the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the submitted papers," it noted.

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the announcement said.

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

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "FAM needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations from the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, hurt and let down," she remarked.

Present Status and Upcoming Games

Despite doubt surrounding the national team's composition, the team is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.