The Malaysian Football Association Denies FIFA Allegations of Falsified Player Nationality Documents, Vows to Challenge Punishments

The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the organization for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The international football authority restated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's document states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

The association will submit an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Reactions

Southeast Asian nations have lately pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, said in a release that "FAM must finish the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to all revelations made by the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, disappointed and disappointed," she added.

Current Situation and Upcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the squad's composition, the team is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, facing Laos on Thursday.