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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for supposedly falsifying the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football authority restated its claims about doctored documentation 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 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

The Governing Body's Position on Document Falsification

"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a form of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its findings.

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

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

The organization also said it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM responded to the global body's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

The governing body will submit an official appeal of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, stated in a statement that "FAM needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations made by FIFA."

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

Current Status and Forthcoming Matches

Despite doubt regarding the squad's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.