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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for supposedly forging the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing 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 players after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified documentation 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 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.

The organization also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM responded to the global body's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the statement declared.

The governing body will present an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Context and Political Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, said in a statement that "the football association must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations from the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Upcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty regarding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.