The Malaysian Football Association Denies FIFA Accusations of Forged Player Citizenship Papers, Will Challenge Sanctions

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

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The global football authority reiterated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification constitutes, plain and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's document claims that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

FAM responded to FIFA's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that players 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are baseless as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the statement said.

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

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have recently pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, said in a release that "FAM needs to finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from FIFA."

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

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on the upcoming Thursday.