The Malaysian Football Association Rejects FIFA Accusations of Forged Player Nationality Papers, Vows to Appeal Sanctions

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for allegedly falsifying the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and banned the players after finding that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global 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 Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined $2,500.

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle 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 report claims that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it noted.

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM responded to the global body's report in a official communication on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

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

The governing body will present an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Political Responses

South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born players from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "the football association 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 Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.