Perak FC treasurer Datuk Sham Mat Sahat had stumped many after saying that Perak FC players needed to have their “soul” with Perak.
He added that if they wanted to play with other teams because they had not received their salaries, they were free to leave Perak FC.
Twentytwo13 editor Haresh Deol, had in his column in Malay-language news website Getaran published on Thursday, wrote that he was taken aback by the rather shallow comments made by Sham, especially in this era of professional sports.
Haresh highlighted that he had written about the need for professionalism to be injected into the domestic sports scene, and that includes the running and management of sports associations or teams.
“Players have contracts with the teams. As such, the relationship is that of employer and employee. If an employer fails to pay salaries on time, then the employee has several options, including legal recourse,” wrote Haresh.
“But Malaysian football players are too nice. If they don’t receive their salaries, they just leave the team. They usually don’t resort to legal action or take it up with the FA of Malaysia.”
Haresh said the players should in fact ask the treasurer and his team what the short- and long-term monetisation plans are for Perak FC and how did the shortage of funds happen, leading to them not receiving their wages.
“The job of a treasurer is not merely to read the account statements during meetings.
“If the administration truly has Perak in their soul, they should give their 100 per cent to the state (football) without expecting any form of payment or allowances. Is that possible?
“And if those running Perak FC are indeed influential and full of calibre, they wouldn’t have problems raising enough funds to pay the footballers.”
Haresh added that football, and sports generally, was an industry, and not a corporate social responsibility or volunteer work.
As such, players should be paid what is due to them and administrators should not question their “soul” or commitment to the team.
Read the full article on Getaran.
