KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has decided to bar Felda United FC (FUFC) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) FC from participating in the Malaysian League (M-League) 2021 after they failed to meet certain requirements relating to their financial standing.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam, in a statement today, said FAM was forced to come to the decision as the financial status of both clubs’ new investors was not sound enough to meet their expenses.
He added that the decision to disqualify both teams from the Super League and Premier League next season was also based on concerns over issues related to salary payments to players and officials.
“For your information, FAM has taken this process seriously to give both teams a chance to secure new investors to ensure the welfare of team players and officials is secure,” Stuart explained.
He said although both clubs managed to settle the club privatisation process by September 30, there were some negative developments regarding corporate support and funding for both teams.
This forced the FAM to seek further explanations and documentation from the new management regarding their current financial status, which were supposed to have been handed to the FAM by October 19.
Stuart said although the new FUFC management, The Fighters Sdn Bhd, managed to secure new investors, the financial status of the management and investors was obernot strong enough according to the financial documents provided by the company to FAM.
He also said that Varsity Boys Sdn Bhd, the UKM FC new management, failed to provide strong documentation relating to the financial status of the team’s new investors.
UKM had previously announced that they would not be responsible for the financial issues and payroll of the UKM FC team for the M-League next season.
On Oct 5, FAM Professional Football Special Committee chairman Mohd Firdaus Mohamed confirmed that all 21 teams managed to complete their FC privatisation plans, including the transformation process from football association to FC. — Bernama
