Twentytwo13

Football in Malaysia must continue

As Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin droned through yet another dreary Covid-19 announcement over the weekend, I was in Kemaman enviously watching the K -League match replay between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings, which took place last Friday.

Did Muhyiddin listen to Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, I wondered. And if so, what would the prime minister make of plans to commence domestic football in September, with training to be allowed a month earlier?

Up there in the Elysian Fields, most people think that football is just like darts and that the FA of Malaysia may well be on the moon. So when they listen to blips and echoes from the minister about football, they must wonder what on Earth is he talking about.

If the plan to resume football competitions in September is continuously ignored or rejected, football this year will be certainly called off. And if that happens, we can safely assume that football clubs will be heading to the gutters.

When matches are not played, there will be no broadcasts. Advertisers and sponsors will either slash or defer their marketing commitment as it absolutely makes no sense for them to keep their end of the bargain.

Some might just revoke their advertising and sponsorship engagement altogether as their finances are considerably affected by the outbreak.

Part of the ‘Saving Our Football From Covid-19: Towards a sustainable recovery’ white paper prepared by Bahas Bola.

You will then have unemployment. It’s a hard, brutal life for those involved in professional football if competitions are called off. The impact would be immediate, which would make it nearly impossible for those affected to plan with a strategy to comfortably cushion their financial fall.

There’s more too. The football industry, which is centered on professional leagues and competitions, is estimated at more than half a billion ringgit. Even though the value from non-professional teams (semi-professional, amateur, and grassroots) and affiliated businesses (academies, football and futsal facilities, media agencies, etc.) is significantly lesser, the contribution it has to the employment market and the capacity for encouraging public participation is much greater.

And that segment of the industry must also be looked upon as well. In Portugal, their federation provides a stimulus package to semi-professional and amateur football clubs to keep them from going under while businesses affiliated to football are assisted through government incentives – similar to what we have here.

Already, the K -League is back with matches held behind closed doors. It is acting, for many professional football competitions, as an experiment. The Bundesliga (Germany) and Liga NOS (Portugal) will resume too, which will provide us a reasonable amount of indication on how the road map to the Malaysian Super League and the Malaysia Cup during our Covid-19 battle should look like.

Moods need to be lifted. Players need money. Clubs need sponsors. Sponsors need broadcasters. Broadcasters need matches. The Malaysian football league and the Malaysia Cup must take place.

This is an economic certainty.

This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.