The biggest asset anyone could offer Malaysian football at this point in time is patience, according to Football Malaysia’s CEO, Kevin Ramalingam.
The structure of Malaysian football is set to undergo and overhaul over the next few years and elements of privatization are beginning to be inserted into the system as well. As of now, Football Malaysia is working to establishing in-depth partnerships between Malaysian teams as well as teams from Japan and even Germany.
But the biggest topic of discussion in recent times – as brought up by the Johor Crown Prince himself – is the division of profit accrued from the sale of broadcasting rights. In a revelation that was made in October, the Johor Crown Prince pointed out that FAM would be taking up to 40% of the profit, while Football Malaysia would be allocated 20% of it.
This was directly compared to the existing model in countries like England as well as Japan, where profit made out of broadcasting rights are distributed evenly amongst all teams in the league. So we sat down with Kevin and posed the brought the conundrum to his attention. We pointed out that profit from the sale of broadcasting rights constitute a big portion of J-League teams’ budget, though Kevin completely disagreed.
“I’d like to correct you there. The teams in Japan, operate on funds that are a lot bigger than the chunk of profit they make from the sale of broadcasting rights. In fact, they even pay the J.League an entrance fee to compete in the league on a yearly basis – that’s how the J.League is able to sustain itself without taking a single penny from the sale of broadcasting rights.
“We don’t have that stability here. Our league is still managed poorly, there’s barely any interest in it, outside Malaysia and so our ability to seek alternative means of making profit is hampered. Hence, we need to tap into the broadcasting profit. We don’t even charge teams in Malaysia a yearly participation fee.
“But this isn’t to say that our intentions are negative. In fact, we will only hold onto this 20% until the league is able to cultivate interest from a bigger pool of investors. If we can generate enough external sponsorships to run the league, we are completely fine with letting our 20% go to the teams. As far FAM, I can’t speak on their behalf. You have to ask them,” he added.
Despite Football Malaysia’s efforts to privatize the league, financial issues continue to cloud a plethora of teams within the country, including Kelantan FA. Even Selangor recently, announced that the state government would be pumping in taxpayers money to boost their chances of doing well in 2016. When quizzed on whether the poor efficacy of new regulations is allowing teams to continuously depend on state governments and take unnecessary financial risks, Kevin reiterated the importance of patience for the local football scene to develop.
“You can’t expect teams to drop everything and turn into a private entity overnight. First and foremost, if state governments see a tangible return of investment (ROI) in sponsoring the state football team, then it’s perfectly fine for them to do that. Secondly, teams need to be given the time and space to be able to slowly transition into a private entity. We (Football Malaysia) are not here to punish them. We are here to aid them,” Kevin continued.
“We have got to be patient. Everyone in Malaysia, including the fans, need to be patient with this transformation. It’s a long-term project and hopefully in 5-10 years, we can grow into a full-fledged football nation, with stability. But for that to happen, we have to work from the grassroots now.
“I understand the concerns surrounding the matter. Everything that the Johor Crown Prince said, also makes complete sense. Ideally, we would love to operate things in that manner. But plans can only be made, based on the reality we have on the ground right now, so we need the time and space to allow this transformation to take place,” he added.
Kelantan FA is a clear example of a team that has effectively blown its’ own budget apart and they are currently facing financial issues with salary payment, leaving their 2016 plans in limbo. Existing regulations have failed in preventing teams from taking risks that are way beyond their own limits – something that Kevin and his team are reportedly looking to address by potentially developing new regulations, though he explained why a salary cap isn’t likely to be part of the plan.
“The biggest dilemma with regulation is efficacy. Whether it would work or not. That really depends on the culture we are working with. The Asian mentality has always been to break rules – even a traffic light is something we struggle to obey at times. So, even if we were to set a salary cap, on the amount of money a player can earn in Malaysian football, teams and players would find ways to beat the system. At this point, the salary cap becomes redundant. Secondly, players who are unaware of the reasons behind its’ implementation, would be extremely angry and that opens the league up to a bigger threat in the form of match-fixing.
“But that’s not to say that we aren’t doing anything. I’m currently discussing with various stakeholders to come up with a more tangible solution, which would help deal with the issue of financial management. The process will take some time, but hopefully we can identify a conclusion to this problem,” he added.
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