🔗 Share this article

The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for one year.

FIFA's Claims and Fines

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and banned the footballers after discovering that their grandparents were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but rather in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football authority restated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report released on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report claims that FAM conceded it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

"Initial documentation showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it noted.

FIFA also mentioned it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

FAM reacted to the global body's allegations in a official communication on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that players 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement declared.

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

Regional Background and Official Responses

Southeast Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure made by FIFA."

"Supporters are angry, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Present Status and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of doubt regarding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.