🔗 Share this article The Malaysian Football Association Denies FIFA Accusations of Falsified Player Citizenship Papers, Will Appeal Sanctions The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the organization for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the national team for one year. FIFA's Allegations and Penalties In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after discovering that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The global football authority restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday. 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 $2,500. The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil. The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification "Document falsification represents, plain and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its findings. "The act of forgery undermines the very core of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee. The Association's Response 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 documentation." "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 easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body. The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's report in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia." "Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided so far," the statement said. The association will submit an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities. Southeast Asian Background and Official Responses Southeast Asian nations have recently pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the Indonesian diaspora. The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "FAM must finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but must respond clearly to every disclosure from FIFA." "Supporters are upset, hurt and let down," she remarked. Present Status and Upcoming Games Despite doubt surrounding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.