East Timor has been banned from the 2023 AFC Asian Cup after forging birth and baptism certificates of Brazilian players ©Getty Images

East Timor has been banned from the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup after the country's Federation was found guilty of forging birth and baptism certificates to allow a number of Brazilians to play for them.

The Federacao Futebol Timor-Leste (FFTL) were found to have forged documents which showed the Brazilian players had East Timorese heritage, with one or both of their parents being born in the country.

Three of the Brazilians played in the nation's first win over Cambodia four years ago, with six also playing in FIFA World Cup qualifier wins in 2015.

Following an investigation by the the AFC's Disciplinary Committee, it was decided that the FFTL will be excluded from the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and fined $20,000 (£16,000/€18,600).

FFTL general secretary Amandio de Araujo Sarmento was also banned from football-related activity for a period of three years and fined $9,000 (£7,200/€8,300).

"On June 9, 2016 the AFC opened an investigation into the eligibility of certain players to play for the representative team of the FFTL following the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Playoff Round matches on June 2 and June 6, 2016," said a statement on the AFC website.

"The investigation was undertaken in conjunction with FIFA.

"The investigation identified 12 Brazilian-born footballers that were registered in the AFC Administration System with falsified Timorese birth or baptismal certificates."

Rodrigo Sousa, left, was one player to found playing illegally for East Timor ©Getty Images
Rodrigo Sousa, left, was one player to found playing illegally for East Timor ©Getty Images

The AFC statement added: "These documents were submitted to the AFC to demonstrate that the footballers were eligible to participate for FFTL representative teams through one or both of their parents being born in Timor-Leste.

"Such particulars were found to have been falsified."

Nine of the players took part in a total of 36 matches falling under the jurisdiction of the AFC and FIFA.

The 36 matches scrutinised cover July 2012 to October 2015.

An AFC statement claimed the organisation was "aware" of further ineligible participation, but was "unable to retrieve team line-up data for those matches".

Fellipe Bertoldo, a midfielder for Botafogo in 2014, was named in the investigation, along with Jaime Braganca, who has represented Portuguese club Maritimo during his career.

Diogo Santos Rangel, who has played for Brazilian teams Vasco da Gama and Palmeiras was also in the report.

East Timor sits north of Australia with a population of around 1.1 million people.

FIFA has told insidethegames that they will communicate their decision as soon as it is made but set no timeline for an announcement. 

The Committee's full decision can be found here.