Publication : MM
Date : 18/01/1997
Headline : Ignorance is not bliss
MALAYSIAN soccer went semi-professional in 1989 and professional in 1995
but the workings of the business is still a mystery to many officials.
The basic thinking is still amateurish with only a handful of
professionals involved in the various aspects of the game like
sponsorship, marketing, finance, administration and management.
Every season we hear of wrangles between States over players, players
not knowing how to sign with a new team, officials not knowing proper
procedures for signing new players or even retaining their players.
There are even players without a copy of their contract and players who
even have no idea of the contents of their contract.
Players still sign blank contracts or contracts written out in pencil.
This is the result of ill-prepared or incompetent amateurs trying to do
the work of professionals.
State FAs wait till the very last minute before negotiating with their
existing players and when some other State decide to sign them on, they
make a big fuss and lay claim to the players.
The rule clearly states that a player can start negotiating with another
team three months before his contract expires.
He can sign a letter of intent to join a new team but can only sign the
actual contract after his existing contract expires.
Teams intending to sign players from other States are required to inform
the players' team of their intention.
But all these are either ignored or when done, another State cries foul
because they themselves do not know the procedures.
The players are to be blamed to a certain degree for the mess because
they are ignorant of their rights or the procedures regarding change of
teams.
And some players try to increase their their salaries at the end of the
season by offering themselves to just about every team in the League.
After a pay hike, they turn their backs on the teams they had negotiated
with.
Problems
Matters get complicated when players blindly sign letters of intent just
to see what they are offered.
Some State FAs, in an attempt to secure certain players, offer
ridiculously high wages and create a false salary structure, despite FAM's
guidelines on salaries.
Some States go a step further by sticking to the FAM guideline but
making undisclosed payments to players.
Some States are known to sign on players at a huge price but without the
means to meet the financial commitment.
Little wonder that States have problems paying the monthly wages of
players.
Some States abuse the players by paying at their discretion.
Players who have more than a year's contract left often do not get wages
during the pre-season or their wage is cut drastically.
State FAs forget that soccer is the sole means of income for most of the
players and problems - personal and professional - arise when they are not
paid on time.
Soccer bribery has been blamed on poor salary payments by some States
and these States have to take some of the blame.
FAM have proposed the game be corporatised at the State level but are
the State FAs ready for it?
What we need is a total revamp of the administration of State FAs to
allow professionals to do the day to day running of the associations.
And influential amateurs must never be allowed to tell the professionals
how to do their jobs or meddle with their work.
In many teams, top professional coaches are hired but they don't select
the players or run the team the way they see fit.
But it must be said that several State FAs are being managed well and
professionally and they are easy to spot.
These are the States occupying the upper rungs in the League.
No comments:
Post a Comment