🔗 Share this article

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

The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and banned the footballers after discovering that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The international football governing body reiterated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on Monday.

Each of the individuals – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this summer – was also fined $2,500.

The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification

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

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the basic tenets of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a fair game and the concept of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.

FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan

FIFA's report states that FAM admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the authenticity of the documentation."

"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it noted.

The organization also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "failure in due diligence" by FAM.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's report in a statement on the following day, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented to date," the announcement declared.

The association will submit an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the Malaysian government.

Regional Background and Official Reactions

South-east Asian nations have lately pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations from FIFA."

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

Current Status and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.