🔗 Share this article

The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the organization for allegedly forging the nationality papers of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for 12 months.

The Global Football Body's Allegations and Fines

In September, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority restated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.

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

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Forgery

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

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan

The international body's document states that FAM admitted it "was contacted 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 sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.

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

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's allegations in a official communication on the following day, maintaining the inconsistencies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that players 'acquired or were aware of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented to date," the statement declared.

The association will present an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently pursued recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, said in a statement that "the football association must finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

"Fans are upset, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Present Status and Upcoming Games

Despite doubt surrounding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to play in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.