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THE Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has stressed that the impression painted in the decision by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is inaccurate.
In a statement, FAM explained that the claim that the players 'obtained or knew about false documents' is baseless as no solid evidence has been presented so far.
"FAM would like to emphasise that the heritage players involved are legitimate Malaysian citizens.
"As previously explained, the error that occurred was due to a wrong submission, which is an administrative error, when a staff member mistakenly uploaded documents from an agent instead of the official documents issued by the National Registration Department (JPN)," said FAM.
Therefore, FAM is preparing an official appeal using the original legal documents and certified by the Malaysian Government.
"FAM will submit an official appeal regarding this conclusion and remains committed to defending the integrity of national football based on facts and authentic documents," he said.
Earlier, FIFA revealed full details regarding the decision to punish FAM and seven Harimau Malaya heritage players after finding inconsistencies in the original player registration documents.
According to the official report titled 'Notification of the Grounds of the Decision' dated 6 October 2025, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee explained that the punishment was imposed based on a violation of Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code which involves the issue of forgery and alteration of official documents.
Investigations found that several birth certificates of the players' grandparents submitted by FAM did not match the official records of their respective countries of origin.
Cross-checks with overseas public registration authorities showed that the individuals named as the players' grandparents were not born in Malaysia as stated in the documents submitted to FIFA.
FIFA explained that all this information was verified through official checks and there was no credible evidence to show a direct link to Malaysia.
The report also stated that the NRD only issued copies based on secondary information received, not based on the original birth records. - October 7, 2025
