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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for supposedly forging the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and banned the players after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body restated its assertions about doctored papers in a official investigation report published 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 summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Document Falsification

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report claims that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the validity 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 relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" 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 provided to date," the announcement said.

The governing body will submit an formal challenge of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Context and Political Reactions

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from FIFA."

"Supporters are angry, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's composition, the team 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 Laos on the upcoming Thursday.