Malaysia Denies FIFA Allegations of Falsified Player Nationality Documents, Vows to Challenge Sanctions
The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will contest FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly forging the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from playing for the country for one year.
FIFA's Claims and Penalties
In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as stated, but rather in the South American nation, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football governing body restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report released on Monday.
Each of the players – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this June – was also penalized $2,500.
The implicated group includes born in Spain Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Imanol Javier Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Figueiredo who was born the South American country.
The Governing Body's Stance on Document Falsification
"Forgery constitutes, plain and simple, a form of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings.
"The act of forgery strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to represent a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the concept of sportsmanship," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.
The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy
FIFA's document states that FAM admitted it "was contacted by third parties regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to independently verify the authenticity of the papers."
"Initial documentation indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it noted.
FIFA also mentioned it was "managed to acquire the relevant original documents easily," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.
The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's report in a statement on the following day, maintaining the discrepancies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."
"Claims that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fraudulent papers' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided so far," the announcement declared.
The governing body will present an formal challenge of FIFA's ruling, using original documents that have been certified by the national authorities.
Regional Background and Political Responses
Southeast Asian nations have recently engaged in recruitment drives for foreign-born athletes, inspired by Indonesia's strategy of recruiting Dutch-born footballers from the Indonesian diaspora.
Malaysia's sports minister, the official, stated in a release that "the football association must complete the challenge procedure and that they should not stay quiet but have to answer plainly to every disclosure made by the global authority."
"Supporters are angry, disappointed and let down," she added.
Current Status and Upcoming Games
Despite doubt regarding the squad's lineup, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.