“I welcome FMLLP to take action if it thinks it is right and fair,” Annuar said, commenting on the proposal by FMLLP chief executive officer Kevin Ramalingam to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to demote Kelantan to the Premier League, or drop it from the M-League following its failure to settle salary arrears of five former players.
On May 3, Kevin proposed that FAM deduct points from the Kelantan team if KAFA failed to pay the wages before May 31.
FMLLP is a private entity that started managing the M-League from this year.
It is understood that the five former players who are owed salaries after KAFA terminated their contracts are Ahmad Fakri Saarani, Amar Rohidan, Muhammad Nazri Ahmad, Amiridzwan Taj Tajudin and Mohd Fitri Omar.
“I always say this is the problem with Malaysian football. They are always thinking about taking action. They forget that the teams are the stakeholders.
“Punishing the team is not the best move. They must remember FAM is nothing, if we don’t invest in the team. Collectively, the 12 teams in Malaysia invest close to half a billion a year.
“Without the teams, FAM… what more FMLLP, are nothing. They must work for us.
“They must take football to a higher level in the best of etiquette… to me, it is daylight robbery when you take RM70 million and you’re giving us peanuts, and you want us to go around and try to fork out the money and at the same time, do well in the competition,” said Annuar cynically.
Citing the European football leagues, Annuar said the financial problems of all clubs or teams involved were managed through “financial fair play”.
“I’ve talked about this matter many times, but it falls on deaf ears. The most important element to keep the M-League at a certain level is that all teams must be well managed, well financed and (be) in a healthy position.
“It does not happen by itself, it falls upon the responsibility of the national association and also FMLLP to look after the welfare of teams,” he said.
According to him, FMLLP should sit down and discuss with KAFA first before making any statement to the media involving the money owed to players, reported to be around RM400,000.
– BERNAMA