🔗 Share this article

The Football Association of Malaysia (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to penalize the body for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the country for 12 months.

FIFA's Claims and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its claims about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on Monday.

Each of the players – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.

The implicated individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification

"Document falsification constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents undermines 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 fair game and the principle of sportsmanship," added Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the validity of the papers."

"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents without hindrance," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's report in a statement on the following day, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Claims that players 'obtained or were aware of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the announcement said.

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

Southeast Asian Context and Official Reactions

South-east Asian countries have lately pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "the football association needs to finish the appeal process and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations from the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Upcoming Matches

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