Malaysia Rejects FIFA Allegations of Falsified Player Nationality Papers, Will Challenge Punishments
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's decision to sanction the body for allegedly falsifying the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the national team for one year.
The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines
In the ninth month, FIFA imposed a penalty of $438,000 on FAM and banned the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but instead in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body reiterated its claims about doctored papers in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.
Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil victory over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also fined twenty-five hundred dollars.
The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born Brazil.
The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery
"Document falsification represents, plain and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its report.
"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the basic tenets of the sport, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.
The Association's Reply and Appeal Plan
The international body's document claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the papers."
"The original birth certificates indicated a stark difference to the documentation provided," it said.
The organization also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.
The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's report in a official communication on the following day, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."
"Allegations that players 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the statement declared.
The governing body will present an official appeal of FIFA's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities.
Regional Context and Political Responses
Southeast Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.
The country's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said 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 FIFA."
"Supporters are upset, hurt and disappointed," she added.
Current Situation and Forthcoming Matches
Regardless of uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, the team is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, meeting the Laotian team on Thursday.
