As a result, the national team will be docked points in their ongoing 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign.

In a statement today, Fifa said it dismissed the appeal and affirmed the imposition of the sanctions on FAM and the seven players “in its entirety”.

“FAM and the players have been notified of the terms of the decision today.

“They have 10 days in which to request a motivated decision, and following this notification, the parties will have 21 days for a possible appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” it said.

In response, FAM acting president Yusoff Mahadi said the association will write to Fifa to obtain the full written grounds for its decision before appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“This is the first time that FAM has faced such a situation and our lawyers and management are very shocked by the decision.

“Nevertheless, FAM will continue to stand firm in championing the rights of our players and the interests of Malaysian football at the international stage,” he said in a separate statement.

FAM and the seven naturalised Malaysian footballers were penalised by Fifa last month after the world football body said FAM had submitted falsified documents to confirm the players’ eligibility before Malaysia’s 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam on June 10.

FAM was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8 million) while each player was fined 2,000 Swiss francs (about RM10,560) and suspended for 12 months from all football-related activities, effective from the date of notification.

The seven players are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.

FAM had filed an appeal against Fifa’s decision after receiving the world football body’s full judgment on Oct 7.