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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for supposedly forging the nationality papers of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for one year.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The international football authority reiterated its assertions about falsified papers in a official investigation report published on Monday.

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

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification represents, plain and simple, a type of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, 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.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it noted.

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

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's report in a statement on Tuesday, maintaining the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

The association will submit an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using authentic papers that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, said 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 all revelations made by the global authority."

"Fans are angry, disappointed and disappointed," she remarked.

Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty regarding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.