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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for one year.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on FAM and banned the players after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football authority reiterated its claims about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released 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 fined $2,500.

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of fair play," commented Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

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

Southeast Asian Context and Official Responses

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "FAM must finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure from FIFA."

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

Present Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.