Kuala lumpur: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has stressed that the International Federation of Association Football’s (FIFA) decision on Malaysia’s heritage players presented an inaccurate account of the issue.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, FAM stated that the allegation that players had ‘obtained or been aware of falsified documents’ was baseless, as no solid evidence had been presented so far. The association emphasized that all seven heritage players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.

FAM explained that the mistake occurred due to an administrative error when a staff member mistakenly uploaded documents from an agent instead of official documents issued by the National Registration Department (JPN). An official appeal is being prepared using original and valid documents verified by the Government of Malaysia. FAM is committed to defending the integrity of Malaysian football based on facts and authentic documents.

Last month, FAM and seven heritage players were sanctioned by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code concerning document falsification. FIFA claimed that FAM submitted falsified documents to confirm players’ eligibility, allowing them to play in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifying match against Vietnam on June 10.

The seven penalized heritage players are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel. Consequently, FAM was fined CHF350,000 (approximately RM1.8 million), and each player was fined CHF2,000 (around RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the decision’s notification date.

According to the latest report by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee Secretariat dated Oct 6, 2025, several players under FAM were found to have used falsified documents to bypass international regulations, enabling them to represent Harimau Malaya.