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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football authority restated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

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

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

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

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

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's document states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates showed a sharp contrast to the documentation provided," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's allegations in a statement on the following day, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

The governing body will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Background and Political Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a statement that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure from the global authority."

"Fans are angry, disappointed and disappointed," she added.

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on Thursday.