🔗 Share this article

The Malaysian Football Association (Malaysia's football governing body) has declared it will contest FIFA's decision to sanction the organization for allegedly falsifying the citizenship documents of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been banned from playing for the national team for one year.

FIFA's Allegations and Penalties

In September, FIFA imposed a fine of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the footballers after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as stated, but instead in Argentina, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football authority reiterated its assertions about doctored documentation in a official investigation report released on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier this summer – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Rodrigo Julian Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was born in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from the South American country.

The Governing Body's Position on Forgery

"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a form of cheating," said FIFA in its report.

"Forging documents strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a athlete's qualification to play for a country's squad, but also the core ethics of a clean sport and the principle of sportsmanship," commented 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 "was contacted by third parties regarding the players’ heritage and did not attempt to independently verify the validity of the papers."

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

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "failure in due diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to FIFA's report in a official communication on Tuesday, maintaining the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "rightful citizens of Malaysia."

"Allegations that the athletes 'obtained or were knowledgeable of fraudulent papers' are baseless as no concrete proof has been presented so far," the announcement said.

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

Southeast Asian Context and Political Reactions

Southeast Asian nations have recently pursued hiring campaigns for naturalised players, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

The country's minister for sports, Hannah Yeoh, stated in a release 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 angry, disappointed and let down," she added.

Current Status and Upcoming Matches

Despite uncertainty surrounding the national team's composition, the team is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is set to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.