🔗 Share this article

The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the organization for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its assertions about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

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

The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Document falsification constitutes, plain and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

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

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

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were aware of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the announcement said.

The governing body will present an official appeal of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the national authorities.

Regional Context and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "FAM needs to finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

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

Present Situation and Upcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing Laos on Thursday.