The Malaysian Football Association Denies FIFA Allegations of Forged Player Nationality Papers, Will Appeal Punishments
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to penalize the body for allegedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple overseas-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for 12 months.
FIFA's Allegations and Penalties
In September, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on FAM and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the European country and Spain. The international football authority restated its assertions about doctored papers 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 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also fined $2,500.
The accused individuals includes Spanish-born Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.
FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification
"Document falsification represents, pure and simple, a type of cheating," said FIFA in its report.
"Forging documents strikes at the very core of the fundamental principles of the sport, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," added a senior official, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.
FAM's Reply and Challenge Strategy
The international body's report claims that the Malaysian association conceded it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the validity of the papers."
"The original birth certificates showed a stark difference to the documentation provided," it said.
FIFA also said it was "able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.
The Football Association of Malaysia reacted to the global body's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the result of an "administrative error" and the individuals are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."
"Claims that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement said.
The governing body will present an formal challenge of the international body's ruling, using authentic papers that have been verified by the national authorities.
Southeast Asian Context and Political Responses
Southeast Asian countries have recently pursued recruitment drives for naturalised players, inspired by the Indonesian approach of bringing in Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.
The country's sports minister, the official, stated in a statement that "FAM must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."
"Fans are angry, disappointed and disappointed," she added.
Current Situation and Upcoming Matches
Regardless of uncertainty regarding the national team's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in Asian Cup qualifiers this month, facing Laos on Thursday.