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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to sanction the organization for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the national team for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body restated its assertions about falsified papers in a official investigation report published on Monday.

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

The accused group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a type of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of fair play," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

FIFA's document states that FAM admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

"Initial documentation showed a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's report in a statement on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the announcement declared.

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

Southeast Asian Context and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born players from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "FAM needs to complete the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

"Fans are angry, hurt and let down," she added.

Present Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Despite doubt surrounding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.