#ManaGajiMereka – FMLLP threaten to punish MSL teams over unpaid salaries

Football Malaysia LLP has released a strong statement to stress that they wouldn’t hesitate to take serious action against Malaysia Super League teams that fail to pay their players’ salaries.

This comes as a direct response to Kelantan’s Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who challenged FAM and FMLLP to punish them for failing to settle unpaid salaries that are owed to their ex-players and ex-head coach, Steve Darby.

FMLLP CEO, Kevin Ramalingam pointed out that as stakeholders, teams have got to realize that their actions will have consequences on every other team in the league.

“The league belongs to all stakeholders, not just one. Thus, when actions of one affects the integrity of the league, then these actions can be seen as actions against the other stakeholders.

“Why? Because when a league’s integrity is affected by issues such as non-payment of salaries, or FIFA cases, then this effect has a direct relation to long term commercial and technical performance of the league as a whole. Issues such as this cannot be viewed from the perspective of one stakeholder, they must be viewed from the perspective of all stakeholders and how this affects them all.

Kevin also went on to clarify FMLLP’s jurisdictions and the amount of influence they have in handing out punishments to teams, or even deciding the severity of these punishments to begin with.

“It is also suggested that FMLLP is not a judicial body, thus has no avenue to take action or dish out punishment. This is true, FAM still manages the disciplinary process through its discipline committee. To this effect, FMLLP has discussed this matter with FAM’s General Secretary, Dato’ Haji Hamidin Mohd Amin, and presented our thoughts and recommendations for their consideration. We are assured that FAM will consider these recommendations seriously.

 

“FMLLP though non-judicial, has cause for action. Each year, during registration of a team’s participation, it is a long-standing requirement for teams to declare that all wages and statutory payments are up to date. Should a team fail, they can be refused registration. This process is managed by FMLLP, and it is through this process that FMLLP’s remedy is also possible. However, we hope that this is not necessary as we trust that matters will be resolved through the disciplinary process provided for in FAM’s statues.

 “With the advent of privatization and the progress we all aim to make, teams must remember that as stakeholders, what they do now affects all other stakeholders. The strongest leagues in the world are where the teams collectively work together to achieve progress and support the system by prudent management and good governance,” he concluded.

Other posts by FO Newsdesk