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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly forging the nationality papers of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for one year.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

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

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's document claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

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

"Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the statement declared.

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

Southeast Asian Context and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, 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 FIFA."

"Supporters are upset, disappointed and disappointed," she added.

Current Status and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.