Malaysia Rejects FIFA Allegations of Forged Player Citizenship Documents, Vows to Challenge Sanctions
The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will contest FIFA's decision to penalize the organization for allegedly falsifying the nationality papers of multiple foreign-born players, who have now been banned from representing the national team for one year.
The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines
In the ninth month, FIFA levied a fine of over four hundred thousand dollars on FAM and suspended the players after finding that their ancestors were not born in Malaysia as claimed, but instead in the South American nation, the Brazilian nation, the Netherlands and Spain. The international football governing body reiterated its claims about falsified documentation in a official investigation report published on the start of the week.
Each of the players – who all participated in Malaysia's 4-0 win over the Vietnamese team in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized twenty-five hundred dollars.
The accused group includes Spanish-born Arrocha, Garces and Iraurgui, Argentinian-born Holgado and Machuca, as well as Serrano who was originated in the Holland, and Figueiredo who was hails from Brazil.
FIFA's Position on Document Falsification
"Forgery represents, plain and simple, a type of cheating," stated FIFA in its findings.
"Forging documents undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those governing a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, but also the essential values of a clean sport and the principle of fair play," commented a senior official, deputy chairperson of FIFA's ethics panel.
FAM's Response and Appeal Plan
The international body's document states that FAM admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and failed to personally confirm the authenticity of the papers."
"The original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the submitted papers," it noted.
The organization also mentioned it was "able to obtain the authentic papers without hindrance," which revealed a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.
FAM reacted to FIFA's report in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the inconsistencies were the result of an "administrative error" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."
"Allegations that the athletes 'acquired or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no concrete proof has been provided to date," the announcement said.
The governing body will submit an official appeal of the international body's ruling, using original documents that have been verified by the national authorities.
Southeast Asian Background and Official Responses
South-east Asian countries have lately engaged in recruitment drives for naturalised players, modelled after the Indonesian approach of bringing in born in the Netherlands players from the Indonesian diaspora.
Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a statement that "the football association needs to complete the appeal process and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by FIFA."
"Supporters are angry, disappointed and let down," she added.
Current Status and Upcoming Games
Regardless of uncertainty regarding the squad's lineup, the team is now ranked one hundred twenty-third in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to compete in Asian Cup qualifiers in the coming weeks, meeting Laos on the upcoming Thursday.