ALOR SETAR, Jan 14 — Kedah Football Association (KFA) has no intention to trouble any parties over the Gary Steven Robbat issue as it was only complying to regulations set by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
KFA president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir who is also Kedah Menteri Besar, said KFA felt the former Harimau Muda player from Kulim belonged to Kedah and wanted him to return to his home state.
“What happened was most unfortunate as we did not intend to annoy any parties but the regulation was established by FAM, so we were not creating any regulations on our own,” he told reporters on the latest status of Gary after chairing a state exco meeting at Wisma Darul Aman today.
According to Mukhriz, the FAM rule states that any Harimau Muda player whose contract expires with the national junior squad will return to their respective state teams first.
“We have been informed of the FAM ruling and this was verified by an FAM letter to all states,” he said and suggested that Gary return to Kedah to discuss with the state FA.
He hoped Gary and the KFA would thrash out the matter as Kedah really needed his talent to assist the state in the Premier League competition this year.
Mukhriz said he regretted media reports that Gary was training with JDT Club and appeared in the ceremony to introduce new JDT players this season recently.
“We have yet to issue any release letter (to Gary),” he said. Despite that, KFA has not closed its door to discuss with any parties to resolve the matter on Gary and was prepared to compromise.
“Despite what happened, we could still compromise but it will depend on the outcome of negotiations. At the moment, no discussions have been held on the matter,” said the Kedah Menteri Besar. — Bernama
