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The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to sanction the organization for supposedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the players after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football governing body 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 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

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

"Forging documents undermines the very core 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 clean sport and the concept of sportsmanship," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

FIFA's document claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

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

The organization also said it was "able to obtain the authentic papers without hindrance," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to the global body's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The governing body will present an official appeal of the international body's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, the official, stated in a release that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure from the global authority."

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.