🔗 Share this article

The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the organization for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the country for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football authority reiterated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 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 Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

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

"The act of forgery strikes at 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 essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's report claims that FAM admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the papers."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the statement said.

The governing body will submit an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "FAM needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

"Supporters are angry, hurt and let down," she added.

Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Regardless of doubt surrounding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on Thursday.