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The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the body for supposedly forging the nationality papers of seven overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and banned the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about doctored papers in a official investigation report published on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 win over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Position on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the concept of sportsmanship," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's report states that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

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

FAM reacted to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the individuals 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 said.

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

Regional Background and Political Responses

Southeast Asian countries have recently pursued hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

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

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's composition, the team is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on Thursday.