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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for one year.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned 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 authority reiterated its claims about falsified papers in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document claims that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to FIFA's allegations in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented to date," the statement declared.

The association will present an official appeal of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Context and Official Reactions

Southeast Asian countries have recently engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

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

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Despite uncertainty regarding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.