KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have denied giving Football Association of Selangor (FAS) the green light to begin negotiations with Mohamadou Sumareh of Pahang.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam, however, confirmed that his FAS counterpart, Johan Kamal Hamidon, did contact him for clarification regarding the naturalised footballer’s status after the Gambia-born player had taken the decision to quit Pahang over the alleged non-payment of his salaries by the FA of Pahang (PFA).
“It’s true Dr Johan contacted me but he was only asking about Sumareh’s status with Pahang.
“I briefed him based on the facts of the case, which at that time was that Sumareh had terminated his contract with the PFA by invoking a certain clause in the contract,” he told Bernama today.
Stuart stressed that FAM had no authority to be involved in any negotiations with Sumareh, who still had a contract with PFA.
Yesterday, the local media reported Johan’s claim that FAS had been given the green light by FAM to start talks with Sumareh.
Johan even said that FAS had not breached any rules by trying to get the services of Sumareh.
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim recently revealed the lucrative contract agreement FAS offered to Sumareh to join the Red Giants next season.
Sumareh completed his move to Thailand League’s Police Tero FC on September 7, after it was revealed that he did not attend any team training sessions for a month since early August.
The 26-year-old, who had a contract with Pahang until 2022, also did not feature in any of Pahang’s Super League matches despite the Malaysia League (M-League) resuming on August 26. — Bernama
