MELAKA, May 1 — All parties involved, including the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian Football League (MFL), have been urged to prepare a new framework to ensure that all competing football teams have stability and strong finances for a better Malaysia League (M-League) ecosystem.
Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Adam Adli Abdul Halim said the effort is seen as necessary given that the issue of salary arrears faced by teams in the Super League is still recurring, affecting their chances of competing in next season’s competition, with some even withdrawing from competing in the league.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) views this issue of salary arrears seriously and it is a very disadvantageous matter if a football club is unable to continue competing in the league and it will certainly disappoint fans and supporters who certainly want to see club representatives from their respective states.
“We want football in our country to be able to produce more professional players and for that, a new framework such as finding funds, sponsorship or increasing team income through the sale of souvenirs needs to be created to ensure that each team can move forward and thus guarantee continuity in the local football league competition,” he told reporters at the Hang Tuah Jaya Aidilfitri Open House Ceremony here last night.
Further commenting, Adam Adli said the extension of the period for Super League clubs to complete the 2024-2025 national club licensing documentation should be used as a space to resolve the issues faced in order to be able to play in the league.
He said that apart from that, the club operators and football associations involved also need to have a higher sense of responsibility to try to find a way out and resolve the salary arrears issues that have hit their teams.
Yesterday, the media reported that the MFL extended the deadline for Super League clubs to complete the 2024-2025 national club licensing documentation.
First Instance Body (FIB) committee chairman Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif said that this decision was made following several official applications from clubs requesting additional time to upload documents in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC CLAS) system.
The media also reported that several state football giants such as Perak, Kedah and Pahang decided to withdraw from the 2025/2026 Super League competition while the fate of Kedah Darul Aman FC and Kelantan Darul Naim FC now depends on the club licensing decision after struggling with the issue of salary arrears. — Bernama
