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The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has declared it will contest FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for supposedly falsifying the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

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 Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body restated its assertions about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

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

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Forgery

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the concept of fair play," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it noted.

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

FAM responded to the global body's report in a statement on Tuesday, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The governing body will present 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 Responses

South-east Asian nations have recently pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, stated in a release that "the football association needs to complete the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

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

Present Situation and Forthcoming Games

Despite uncertainty surrounding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.