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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize 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.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority reiterated its claims about falsified papers in a official investigation report published on Monday.

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 penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the concept of sportsmanship," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Response and Challenge Strategy

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

"The original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented to date," the announcement said.

The association will present an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "FAM must finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations from the global authority."

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.