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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the national team for one year.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and banned the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football authority 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 four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's report states that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

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

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement said.

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

Southeast Asian Background and Official Responses

Southeast Asian countries have recently engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

"Fans are upset, hurt and let down," she remarked.

Present Situation and Upcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty surrounding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.