KUALA LUMPUR − Issues surrounding the privatisation process of Malaysian League (M-League) teams are expected to be fully resolved next year once weaknesses are rectified, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) vice-president Mohd Firdaus Mohamed said.
Firdaus, who as FAM professional football committee head has been a key figure in the privatisation process of team management from football association (FA) to football club (FC), said among the current key weaknesses is team dependence on state government funding.
He said if there is a change of government or leadership, it would have an impact on funding promised as planned in their pre-season budgets to the point of prolonging their salary arrears issues despite already having attained FC status.
“But I understand Malaysian Football League (MFL) has made efforts to rectify the situation. We will wait until 2023 for the whole privatisation process to be completed as recommended by FIFA to ensure no state interests in the respective teams anymore.
“So, I feel all teams are making efforts to be on the right track,” he said recently.
It was reported that several M-League teams, including Kedah Darul Aman (KDA) FC, Sarawak United, Perak FC and Melaka United are facing player salary arrears issues.
Firdaus said teams, such as Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), Kelantan FC and Petaling Jaya (PJ) City FC were good examples of teams involved in the privatisation process, which were not reliant on state government funding.
“I was made to understand that many other teams, such as Sri Pahang FC, are moving that way too. Maybe there will be teams seeking (state government) funds for development purposes, and not for the main squad.
“I believe all teams will be able to be financially self-reliant by next year. The whole process of privatisation takes time and has its challenges,” he said. – Bernama, November 16, 2021
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