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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the national team for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina 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 Position on Document Falsification

"Forgery constitutes, pure and simple, a type of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at 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 sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's allegations in a statement on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that players 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement said.

The governing body will submit an official appeal of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Official Responses

Southeast Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations from the global authority."

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

Current Status and Forthcoming Matches

Despite doubt surrounding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.