🔗 Share this article The Malaysian Football Association Rejects FIFA Accusations of Falsified Player Nationality Documents, Will Challenge Punishments The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has declared it will contest FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the country for one year. FIFA's Allegations and Fines In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday. Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars. The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil. The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery "Forgery constitutes, pure and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings. "Forging documents undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee. The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan The international body's report states that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the validity of the papers." "The original birth certificates indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said. FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM. FAM reacted to the global body's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens." "Allegations that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been presented so far," the statement said. The association will present an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the Malaysian government. Regional Context and Official Responses Southeast Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the Indonesian diaspora. The country's minister for sports, the official, said in a release that "the football association must finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations from FIFA." "Supporters are angry, disappointed and disappointed," she added. Present Situation and Upcoming Matches Regardless of doubt regarding the national team's lineup, the team is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.