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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to sanction the body for allegedly forging the nationality papers of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 win over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a type of dishonesty," said FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the concept of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

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

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

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the announcement declared.

The governing body will submit an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have lately engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "the football association must complete the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Present Status and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt regarding the national team's composition, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.