Malaysia Denies FIFA Allegations of Falsified Player Citizenship Papers, Will Challenge Sanctions
The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the organization for allegedly forging the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the country for 12 months.
The Global Football Body's Claims and Penalties
In the ninth month, FIFA levied a penalty of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the European country and Spain. The global football authority reiterated its claims about doctored documentation in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.
Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized $2,500.
The accused group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.
The Governing Body's Position on Forgery
"Document falsification represents, plain and simple, a type of dishonesty," stated FIFA in its findings.
"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a athlete's qualification to represent a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the concept of fair play," added Jorge Palacio, deputy chairperson of FIFA's disciplinary committee.
FAM's Reply and Appeal Plan
FIFA's document states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the papers."
"The original birth certificates indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.
The organization also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by FAM.
The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to FIFA's report in a statement on the following day, maintaining the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."
"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the announcement declared.
The association will present an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.
Regional Background and Political Responses
South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born players from the overseas community.
Malaysia's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a statement that "FAM must finish the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but must respond clearly to every disclosure made by the global authority."
"Supporters are upset, disappointed and let down," she added.
Current Situation and Upcoming Games
Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting the Laotian team on the upcoming Thursday.
