Not if things remain as they are now, said former Sabah team manager Ronald Cooke, particularly with the current practice of away games maintained by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Cooke, 64, who managed Sabah FC to its first and only FA Cup victory in 1995, said FAM can no longer continue this “SOP of yesteryears”, which he said is costing almost all the state football associations, but more particularly Sabah and Sarawak.
While all teams need to travel for away games, he said, none are as heavily affected financially as the Bornean teams which have to fly across the South China Sea for every match against their peninsula opponents.
In contrast, he said, the peninsula teams can opt to travel by bus when facing each other, adding that they don’t spend as much because they don’t need to fly to Sabah and Sarawak too many times as well.
“FAM has to find a way to cut down the expenses for the competing teams because there is no revenue at all when teams are forced to play in empty stadiums due to Covid-19 protocols.
“They have to change and adapt to the situation. If they don’t, all FAs will go bankrupt, especially Sabah and Sarawak, who both have to prepare a budget 10 times bigger compared with others in order to compete in the national league.
“FAM should review the SOPs for the coming season, with Sabah and Sarawak in mind.”
During his time, Cooke said the away day expenses could reach up to RM50,000 per trip, which involved some 25 players and Sabah Football Association (Safa) officials.
“I’d imagine they have to pay a lot more these days for flights, accommodation, food and transport on match day, among other things.
“I don’t envy Safa president Bung Moktar Radin because he is working hard looking for sponsors. But who wants to contribute now? If he steps down tomorrow, I wonder who is willing to take up the post. It’s a thankless job and a bottomless pit,” he said.
One of the solutions he suggested was for FAM to synchronise the FA and Malaysia Cup games in such a way that it cuts down the travelling frequency and amount of time spent in the peninsula.
Cooke’s comments come off the back of Sabah’s 6-0 mauling by Selangor on home turf last Sunday, the heaviest defeat thus far this season which has left the team on a nine-game winless streak.
Sabah sits in ninth place in the 12-team Malaysia Super League, with one game left to play today (Sept 12) against Perak FC.
Their only consolation this season is perhaps the team will remain in the top flight next year and that it has qualified for the Malaysia Cup, regardless of the result of its final league game.
Cooke’s FA Cup-winning team was made up of players like former national striker Matlan Marjan, Australian goal machine Scott Ollerenshaw, ex-national goalie Khairul Azman Mohamed and Ong Kim Swee, who has recently accepted the Sabah FC head coach job.
Cooke said the high expenditure is also costing the talent development in the states as a majority of the much-needed cash is spent on away game expenses instead of being pumped into local leagues.
“I would suggest that local FAs, particularly Sabah, concentrate on local leagues. Invest money there and nurture all the local talents. There’s no point in having good imported players when local players are hopeless – that is important.”
At the same time, Cooke said FAM should reduce the number of foreign players allowed to play in the league, saying opportunities should instead be given to homegrown players.
On the requirement for Super League teams to have head coaches with Pro A licences, he said the FAM should also speak to the Asian Football Confederation to loosen this rule, in light of the pandemic.
“I also call on Safa officials to fight for Sabah in the FAM meetings in Kuala Lumpur. Don’t treat it as a holiday but instead tell them our problems,” he said.
Cooke fears that if no one speaks up, it can spell a bleak future for the game in Sabah.
“Try asking the ordinary person who the national team goalkeeper is now. Whereas in those days, even non-football fans will know the late R Arumugam.
“Even in Sabah, people can practically name the whole state team previously. They were all household names but the interest among the people in local football today is nothing like before,” he said.