🔗 Share this article

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

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority reiterated its assertions about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

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

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

FIFA's Position on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents undermines the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the concept of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Response and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that FAM conceded it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

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

The organization also said it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

FAM reacted to FIFA's allegations in a official communication on the following day, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

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

The association will submit an official appeal of FIFA's decision, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Reactions

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

Malaysia's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "FAM 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 angry, disappointed and disappointed," she remarked.

Current Situation and Upcoming Matches

Regardless of uncertainty regarding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on the upcoming Thursday.