FMT - COLUMN
August 1, 2020
M-League football teams, struggling to stay afloat in a sea of debt, must stop treating the youth and sports ministry and state governments as cash machines.
Some state
teams are sinking deeper into a sludge of enormous debt, running up expenses
that far outstrip incomes.
It is
infuriating when state football associations continue to seek a bailout by
taxpayers to cover salaries of players and coaches, transport and flight costs,
and dues to the Inland Revenue Board and the Employees Provident Fund.
Almost every
team in the M-League claims to have suffered losses during the Covid-19
lockdown because of poor gate collections. But teams will lose out on gate
collections only when they play in empty stadiums when the league resumes at
the end of August.
Only
ill-prepared administrations with no reserve funds need to rely on gate
collections to see them through the season.
Moreover,
teams saved a bundle on operational expenses and travel costs during the
lockdown period, with further savings in salary cuts among players, coaches,
and administrative staff since March 18.
More money
will be saved with the remaining season reduced to a one-round league.
Let’s look
at Super League side Kedah and Premier League Kelantan: both failed to pay
their players and coaches, in Kedah’s case for the last five months, it is
believed.
Kedah FA
president Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, who is also the menteri besar, said last
Sunday that the state government cannot arbitrarily channel funds to settle
arrears of salaries and other dues.
Former
menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir was said to have pledged an allocation of RM1.5
million to the FA, but the funds have not been approved by the current state
government.
“Do the fans
want me to take the money meant for the poor, orphans and single mothers and
channel it to the players?” he said. Sanusi said the state FA’s problems began
under the previous management, and current debt stands at RM10.6 million.
But when he
took over as FA president, Sanusi must have known that it was his responsibility
to settle the association’s liabilities.
Kedah MB Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor elected unopposed as new Kedah FA president on July 12 at their EGM with his newly elected Council members Kedah FA Facebook picture.
In Kelantan,
FA officials met with sports minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican last week
for advice on how to settle the RM2 million in wages owed to seven foreign
players.
The Penang
FA said last week they had resolved their salary crisis after paying its
players and officials what was owed for April, May and June.
Just as with
last season, the state government helped settle the debts.
Phasing out state FAs from professional football
The Football
Association of Malaysia (FAM) has finally moved to end the role of state
football associations, 26 years after football went professional.
It is now
mandatory for states and clubs to privatise their teams for the AFC Cup and
Champions league tournaments, and to obtain licences from the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC), by Sept 30. Applications must be submitted by Aug 31.
Privatisation
will ensure accountability and make those taking over the clubs responsible for
the liabilities.
Teams who
fail to meet the deadlines will be banned from next season’s M-League.
Previous
attempts by the FAM to press for a professional setup were met with resistance
by state associations and some of them are expected to oppose the move at
council meetings.
There are
already murmurs that some state FAs have suggested outsourcing their teams.
Professional
football is much like a business and needs to be run like a corporate
organisation with transparency, integrity and accountability.
Above all,
it must be a sustainable organisation with funds sourced through sponsorship,
profitable ventures and football industry businesses like merchandising,
branding and advertising.
State FAs
must decide if they want to be part of a professional football setup or remain
as amateurs and intensify Malaysian football’s ills.
Saturday Aug 1
State FAs must be truly professional or ship out
No compromise from FAM for teams who fail to convert from FA
to FC for 2021 season
THE Ministry of Sports and state government must not be treated as if
they are welfare organisations for the professional State FA football teams in
the M-League.
The sooner State FAs realise this and manage their teams more
professionally without depending on the Ministry of Sports and state
governments to bail them out every time they run into debts mainly due to wages
for players and coaches[H1] , their chances of them continuing playing in the M-league will be
brighter.
The Football
Association of Malaysia (FAM) has never been more serious about revamping its
structure and put an end to football associations,
It is now
mandatory that states and clubs must privatise their teams and be licensed by
the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The deadline for privatisation is Sept 30, while applications for
licences which will be issued by FAM’s Club Licensing Department and approved
by AFC, must be submitted by Aug 31.
Currently two teams – Kedah from the Super League and Premier League's
Kelantan – are facing difficulties in paying their players and coaches.
Happier times for Kedah team - 2019 FA Cup Champion Kedah FA - Kedah FA Facebook picture
President of Kedah FA Muhammad
Sanusi Md Nor, who is also the new Kedah Menteri Besar replacing Mukhriz
Mahathir, said last Sunday that the state
government cannot arbitrarily channel funds or allocations to settle salaries
of players representing the state team in the M-League.
It is believed the Kedah FA (KFA) have not paid their players for the
last five months besides payment to Inland Revenue Board (IRB), Employees
Provident Fund (EPF) and team's transport and flight ticket providers.
Muhriz was said to have pledged a RM1.5 million
allocations earlier, but it has not been released by the current state
government, as it said that it has not been approved.
Kelantan, on the other hand, went to see Sports
Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican last week to seek
his advice on how to settle the debts their team had inherited and must have
also tried to get some funding.
Kelantan have arrears amounting to RM2 million owing to seven foreign
players.
Also last week, Football Association of Penang
(FAP) announced that they had resolved their salary crisis after settling
what was owed to its players and officials for April, May and June this year.
The
announcement was made by FAP president Dr Amar Pritpal Abdullah after
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow witnessed the team's training session at
the Penang State Stadium near Batu Kawan after earlier officiating the opening
of the stadium's running track.
Like last
season, when the team’s debt woes were assisted by the state government, it was
the same this season.
Kuala Lumpur
FA also has a problem as its current president, Khalid Samad, is no longer
the Federal Territory Minister. The FT Minister is now Tan Sri Annuar
Musa,
Khalid
during his tenture had allocated RM5 million for the season which the KLFA has
been managing quite well so far. What happens now that Khalid is no
longer the Federal Territory Minister, is left to be seen. Is KLFA going
to have an EGM like Kedah FA did and bring Annuar on board?
State FAs
being aligned to political parties must stop.
Professional
football is much like a business and needs to be run like a corporate
organisation with transparency, integrity, accountability and above all to be a
sustainable organisation with funds sourced through sponsorship, profitable
ventures, football industry businesses like merchandising, branding and
advertising.
Almost every
team in the M-League is claiming to have suffered losses during the three-month
Covid-19 Movement Control Order (MCO), citing loss of revenue from gate
collections.
How can gate
collection be listed as a team's income when it is subjective and nothing is
guaranteed.
Besides, did
teams not save a bundle when not having to pay for electricity and water for
their offices, no match organisational, travel and accommodation cost involved
during MCO?
Also, with
salary reductions for players, coaching and administration staff during the
past three months, surely this was further saving.
Besides,
every team must surely have a budget for the season with already secured funds
and not depend on gate collection.
Yes, when
the League resumes at the end of August and teams have to play matches in empty
stadiums, only then will they will lose out in gate collection. But as
mentioned earlier gate collection is not a guaranteed income for their
respective budgets.
The number
of matches to be played this season has also been reduced to a one-round league
and this is surely another saving!
State FAs
must decide if they want to be part of a professional football setup or just
make up the numbers and remain as amateurs.
Twenty-six
years after going professional, the time is ripe to put things right once and
for all.
Many were upset
when Sanusi said he was not going to take
money from anywhere to solve Kedah FA's monetary woes. He claimed that the
problem had begun under the previous management and that the current debt
amount stood at RM10.6 million.
"The mistakes were made under the previous management. Do the
fans want me to take the money meant for the poor, orphans and single mothers
and channel it to the players?" he asked.
But when taking over the reins from the previous management Sanusi must
have known the liabilities the association had and is responsible to settle it.
However, credit to Sanusi for having confirmed that KFA would be holding
a meeting on Monday to find a solution to the crisis, and to re-evaluate the
implementation of several matters when under the previous management.
It is for this reason the FA of Malaysia, in line with FIFA and AFC, are
making it mandatory for State FAs to privatise their
teams to set up football clubs where there
will be accountability and responsibility for anyone who comes on to helm the
club, to take over the liability.
“Teams failing to
meet the deadlines will be banned from next season’s M-League,” said FAM
general secretary Stuart Michael Ramalingam.
The
licensing and privatisation was part of the requirement for teams who qualify
for the AFC Cup and Champions League.
Previous
attempts by FAM to press for a professional setup were met with resistance by
state associations and it will be no surprise there will be State FAs who
oppose it at the council meetings. There is already murmurs from some
State FAs suggesting to outsource their team.
“The
regulations for licensing and privatising the teams are very clear and has to
be adhered,” said added Stuart.
Ends.
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