PETALING JAYA, July 4 — Malaysian teams suffered a knock when LionsXII captured the Super League title in style at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on Tuesday.
Despite having spent a fortune on hiring foreign players and paying exorbitant salaries to the locals, the Malaysian teams still could not stop a virtually Under-23 LionsXII side from wresting the title.
For the Super League, LionsXII were strengthened by the inclusion of five senior players.
The top Malaysian teams were reported to be paying foreign players with package deals of RM1 million per season, with most of the players earning between US$10,000 (RM31,000) and US$15,000 per month, excluding other perks.
One top local player was believed to have been paid about RM100,000 a month, while several big-name players earn between RM40,000 and RM50,000.
The average wage for a local player is between RM20,000 and RM25,000.
But when compared to the wages of professional players in England or Europe, these are meagre.
Still it is considered high in Malaysia because the quality of the players certainly does not equate with the salaries they earn.
So have the Malaysian teams overpaid their players for the quality of football they dish out?
Was the selection of players poor?
Or did injuries, suspensions and inconsistent performance by the Malaysian teams derail their challenge?
Or were there any hidden external factors beyond their control which sabotaged their campaign?
How did the LionsXII manage to be champions without foreign players and not earn anything close to what Malaysian players got?
The previous time Singapore tasted success in the Malaysian league was in 1994 when they bagged a double — winning the League and Malaysia Cup.
Generally, the public is disappointed with the failure of Malaysian teams.
