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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the organization for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about doctored papers in a official investigation report published 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 June – was also fined $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born 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 Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

"Forgery constitutes, pure and simple, a type of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, 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 Reply and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document claims that FAM admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the submitted papers," it noted.

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's allegations in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far," the announcement declared.

The governing body will present an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Context and Political Responses

South-east Asian nations have lately engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born players from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations made by the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, hurt and let down," she remarked.

Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Despite doubt regarding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked 123rd 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.