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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 multiple overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority restated its assertions about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil victory over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of football, 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 principle of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document claims that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

"Initial documentation indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement said.

The governing body will present an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Reactions

Southeast Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM must complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Present Status and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.