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

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the players after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body reiterated its claims about falsified papers in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Document Falsification

"Document falsification represents, pure and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its findings.

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's document claims that FAM conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

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

The organization also said it was "able to obtain the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the statement declared.

The association will present an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Regional Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have lately pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "the football association needs to finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations from the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's composition, the team is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.