KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — The new Malaysia League (M-League) season is just two weeks away, yet the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM) and Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have yet to resolve the issue of unpaid salary to Perlis players for last season.
While all these uncertainties are going on, it’s the players who have had to suffer in the last nine months, with some turning to becoming fishermen, clerks and car-washers to earn a living.
PFAM chief executive officer, Izham Ismail, today called on FAM to immediately convene a meeting of their disciplinary committee, who would have the final say on the matter.
“I was told that FAM will reject the annual grant meant to be given to PFA if they fail to settle their players’ outstanding wages,” he said when commenting on the Perlis Football Association (PFA)’s failure to pay 27 players their salaries for last season.
Goalkeeper Fahmi Izzarin Mustafa, 24, claimed that despite being promised payment on January 7, he and his teammates had yet to receive their salary payments from March to end of last year.
“The PFA management have been giving all kinds of excuses and dilly-dallying over the issue,” he told a press conference, which was also attended by 15 other players, here today.
He said they were not sure of their status as players as PFA had signed new players for the 2019 M-League season.
Another player, 30-year-old Ezzrul Ikmanizar Abd Rahman said they were at their wits end now as they could not join other teams “since we still have valid contracts with PFA”.
He said that new PFA president Datuk Ahmad Amizal Shaifit Ahmad Rafie was quoted last October as saying that the outstanding wages since last March, amounting to more than RM460,000, would be settled after both parties agreed on the payment method.
“We were supposed to be paid in stages but until today we have not been paid a sen,” said Ezzrul Ikmanizar.
FAM are said to be prepared to use this year’s allocation for PFA to settle the players’ outstanding wages if the matter is not resolved. — Bernama
