Pahang’s national winger, Mohamadou Sumareh, has bit the hand that fed him, proving ungrateful to Pahang FA president Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah, and the player could pay dearly for this.

The Gambia-born 26-year-old has not been training with the Pahang squad for almost a month and is believed to have prematurely terminated his contract with Pahang FA.

He failed to show up for Pahang’s first match against JDT on Aug 28 when the M-League resumed after being suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sumareh is said to have exercised clause 8.7 of his contract which provides for termination of the contract for non-payment of salary. It also allows him to negotiate with any new club and to be released unconditionally to the new club on a free transfer.

Pahang FA say they had paid his dues on the agreed date of Aug 26. Several matters remain unclear as both parties have been keeping everything close to their chests but all indications are that this saga is not going to end soon.

Tengku Abdul Rahman, who is Pahang Tengku Muda, told FMT that although there was a delay in payment, everything has been settled with Sumareh.

“I am disappointed with Sumareh for whom we have done a great deal, including getting his Malaysian citizenship,” he said. Sumareh became a citizen in 2018 and Malaysia’s first non-heritage naturalised player.

“It is a clear show of ungratefulness by him and the manner in which he has gone about handling this situation does not portray him as a professional,’’ said Tengku Abdul Rahman.

He said: “We promised to make the delayed payment and we fulfilled our end of the bargain. If he had an issue or wanted to leave for another team, he could have waited to speak to me and left amicably. He chose not to attend training and decided to take things into his own hands.”

Tengku Abdul Rahman is determined not to let Sumareh have things easy in his move to another club.

“I don’t want him after all he has done and we will do everything to make known his unprofessional conduct to the relevant authorities. We will write to the FA of Malaysia and forward the letter to the Asian Football Confederation and Fifa and let matters take its course from there,” the Pahang FA president said.

There are several twists to Sumareh’s next move.

While there is speculation that Sumareh is moving to Thailand’s Police Tero FC to play in the league which resumes later this month, it is also learnt that Muangthong FC are also pursuing him.

It is learnt that an agent, who is arranging for Sumareh to don Muangthong colours, has contacted the Pahang FA for his International Transfer Certificate and offered US$1 million as transfer fee.

Whether or not Pahang FA agree to the deal is left to be seen. Why is a transfer fee being offered, if Sumareh considers himself free from his contract with Pahang FA using clause 8.7?

It is also believed his Thailand stop is a temporary measure because he cannot move to any M-League team as there is no transfer window this season due to the league being shortened with a one-round affair.

There is also talk that Sumareh will eventually turn out for JDT.

Sumareh could have handled things in a more favourable manner and avoided tarnishing his reputation. Some are even questioning his loyalty to the national team while others are asking if he had surrendered his Gambian passport.

Pahang fans have branded him as unprofessional and ungentlemanly.

None of Pahang’s 35-man squad complained of non-payment of salary, so why did Sumareh have an issue?

Pahang coach Dollah Salleh has been Sumareh’s mentor since he coached the Police team in 2015 before moving to Perlis and then Pahang since 2017. He is equally disappointed.

“I was like a father to him and when he told me he wanted to leave Pahang, I advised him to finish the season since there were only seven more matches left. I told him to talk to Tengku and leave amicably, although his contract with Pahang was until the end of 2021,” said Dollah.

“But he chose to do otherwise and has burned his bridges and hurt people who took good care of him, especially Tengku who has delivered everything promised to him and more.

“I even protected him when he did not turn up for training for a month and told reporters that he was injured.”

Sumareh came to Malaysia when he was 12 years old with his businessman father and they settled here three years later.

A former Maz International School and Segi College student, he had his early training with the Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer academy under Argentine coach and former Kelantan player, Luis Pablo Pozzuto.

He made his debut for Malaysia on October 12, 2018 in a friendly against Sri Lanka, coming on as a substitute and scoring his first international goal in a 4-1 victory. He has since made 19 appearances for the national team and netted six goals.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.