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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for supposedly forging the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority restated its claims about doctored papers in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil win over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina 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 the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

FIFA's document claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented to date," the statement said.

The association will submit an official appeal of the international body's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Context and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born players from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, the official, said in a statement that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure made by the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Upcoming Games

Despite doubt surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.