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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has declared it will contest 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 national team for one year.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football authority reiterated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

"Document falsification represents, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

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

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document states that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far," the announcement said.

The governing body will submit an official appeal of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

Southeast Asian nations have lately pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a statement that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

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

Present Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty regarding the national team's lineup, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.