The Malaysian Football Association Rejects FIFA Accusations of Forged Player Nationality Documents, Vows to Appeal Sanctions

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

The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football authority reiterated its claims about doctored papers in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Stance on Forgery

"Forgery represents, 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 regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," added a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The Association's Reply and Challenge Strategy

The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association admitted it "received inquiries by external agencies regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it said.

The organization also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.

FAM responded to FIFA's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "procedural mistake" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were knowledgeable of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement said.

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

Regional Background and Political Reactions

Southeast Asian countries have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the Indonesian diaspora.

Malaysia's minister for sports, the official, stated in a release that "FAM needs to finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations from FIFA."

"Fans are upset, hurt and disappointed," she added.

Present Status and Forthcoming Games

Regardless of uncertainty surrounding the national team's lineup, Malaysia is now ranked 123rd in the Asian Football Confederation standings and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup in the coming weeks, facing the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.