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KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Football League (MFL) is under tremendous pressure with sponsors threatening to withdraw their contribution from the M-League following the uncertainty surrounding the game next season.
As a result, MFL also faces the challenge of not being able to allocate the broadcasting rights fee to each team for their Super League and Premier League matches amounting to RM1 million and RM500k respectively.
The Vibes reported on November 13 that MFL was set to lose RM40 million in sponsorship based on strong speculation within the football fraternity.
However, after further investigation, it is understood that Telekom Malaysia (TM), MFL’s biggest sponsor, will slash its contribution from RM30 million to RM15 million for the upcoming season.
“They are not happy with the current situation in terms of branding and activation. The cancellation of the Malaysia Cup was the last straw for TM.
“Sponsors have suffered losses and it is believed that TM has requested MFL to make up for half of it by allocating only RM15 million for the upcoming season,” says a well-informed source on the matter.
On the other hand, an insider has noted that Super League title sponsor CIMB Bank is about to pull the plug entirely on its RM2 million sponsorship next season.
“CIMB is almost certain to terminate its M-League sponsorship deal although they are still in negotiations. In the case of CIMB quitting, MFL could make TM the title sponsor for the Super League,” the source told The Vibes recently.
Meanwhile, Air Asia has decided to withdraw its sponsorship for the next season – an undisclosed amount believed to be less than RM1 million - due to financial challenges faced by the low-cost carrier as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier this year, Shopee terminated their RM1 million sponsorship deal when MFL decided to call off the FA Cup in response to the Government-imposed Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
Other noteworthy sponsors, such as 100Plus (F&N) and Nike, only contribute in kind with no monetary allocation.
Evidently, MFL faces an uphill task of sourcing out funds for the next season and could very well be looking at the possibility of going bust if they continue to have a cashless future.
The Vibes’ effort to contact MFL to confirm this matter remains futile. – The Vibes, November 24, 2020.
