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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the organization for allegedly falsifying the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the country for one year.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The global football governing body reiterated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Document Falsification

"Document falsification represents, pure and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of fair play," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the papers."

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

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on the following day, maintaining the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the statement said.

The governing body will submit an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Responses

Southeast Asian nations have lately pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Present Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.