🔗 Share this article

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has declared it will appeal FIFA's decision to sanction the body for supposedly forging the nationality papers of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football authority restated its assertions about doctored documentation in a official investigation report published on Monday.

Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The accused group includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of sportsmanship," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that FAM admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's report in a official communication on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that players 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided to date," the announcement declared.

The association will submit an formal challenge of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have recently engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

The country's minister for sports, the official, said in a statement that "the football association needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to all revelations made by the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the national team's composition, 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 the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.