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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents 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 Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after discovering that their ancestors 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 reiterated its claims about doctored papers in a official investigation report published on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

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

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification represents, pure and simple, a form of cheating," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

The organization also said it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM responded to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

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

Regional Context and Political Reactions

South-east Asian nations have lately pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations made by FIFA."

"Fans are upset, hurt and disappointed," she added.

Current 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 compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing Laos on Thursday.