The Malaysian Football Association Rejects FIFA Accusations of Falsified Player Nationality Papers, Vows to Appeal Punishments

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and banned the players after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused group includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery constitutes, pure and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its findings.

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of fair play," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's document claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and failed to independently verify the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates showed a sharp contrast to the documentation provided," it said.

FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on the following day, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the announcement declared.

The governing body will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Context and Official Reactions

Southeast Asian nations have lately engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM needs to complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

"Fans are angry, disappointed and let down," she added.

Present Status and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty surrounding 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 Laos on the upcoming Thursday.