Malaysia soccer federation disputes cheating claims and will appeal FIFA sanctions

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said Tuesday that it would appeal FIFA sanctions after being accused by soccer’s governing body of cheating.

In September, FIFA suspended seven overseas-born players who all featured for Malaysia in June’s 4-0 win over Vietnam in a 2027 Asian Cup qualifier, for 12 months and fined FAM $438,000, citing falsified or doctored documentation.

In its full report released Monday, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee said “the original birth certificates indicated a sharp contrast to the documentation provided,” referring to papers from the FAM claiming the players all had a grandparent born in Malaysia, making them eligible to represent the country under FIFA rules.

The committee reported that the original certificates showed that the said family members had actually been born in the same countries as the players: Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.

“Presenting fraudulent documentation with the purpose of gaining eligibility to play for a national team constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned,” FIFA said in the report. “Such conduct erodes trust in the fairness of competitions and jeopardizes the very essence of football as an activity founded on honesty and transparency.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, FAM disputed FIFA’s findings.

“Claims that players ‘acquired or were aware of fake documents’ are baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far,” it said. “FAM would like to assert that the heritage players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.”

The body said that there had been an administrative error when submitting documents and that it is preparing to appeal the ruling using original documents that have been certified by the Malaysian government.

“FAM will be presenting an official appeal regarding this conclusion, and remain committed to defending the integrity of national football based on facts and authentic documents,” it said.

The FIFA report said that FAM admitted it “was contacted by external agencies regarding the Players’ heritage and yet failed to independently verify the authenticity of the documentation.” FIFA added that it was “able to obtain the relevant original documents without hindrance,” which highlighted a “a lack of proper diligence” by FAM.

The Asian Football Confederation, which runs the Asian Cup, will refer the eventual results of the case to its own Disciplinary Committee, which could mean further punishments for Malaysia, which will play against Laos on Thursday.

The revelations have provoked anger in Malaysia.

“Although FAM has issued a statement saying it was a technical error, a mistake by their staff, all of that needs improvement because the 19-page statement contains very serious remarks by FIFA, which tarnish the country’s image.” Hannah Yeoh, Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister said. “Fans are angry, hurt and disappointed.”