🔗 Share this article

The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to sanction the organization for allegedly forging the citizenship documents of seven overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The international football governing body restated its claims about falsified documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also fined $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of the sport, 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 sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "received inquiries by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."

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

FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the authentic papers easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement declared.

The association will present an formal challenge of FIFA's decision, using authentic papers that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Background and Political Responses

Southeast Asian countries have recently engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of recruiting born in the Netherlands footballers from the overseas community.

The country's sports minister, the official, said in a release that "FAM needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to every disclosure from the global authority."

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

Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.