SHAH ALAM: The M-League are unofficially ranked No 1 in Asia for the most number of cases of unpaid salaries.
The FA of Malaysia confirmed that 262 cases have been filed by coaches and players against teams in regard to salary claims.
The cases only account those handled by FAM’s status and disciplinary committees. The number is probably higher than reported.
FAM secretary general Stuart Ramalingam said 60 per cent of the total number of cases were against Hanelang FC, Terengganu City, Kuantan FA and Marcerra United.
All four teams are now defunct.
“In total, about 10 teams are in our bad books.
“We have 262 cases and it is the highest in Asia,” said Stuart on Sunday.
Perlis, who received a backdoor entry to play in the Premier League from the FAM Cup, are now making headlines for owing 18 players from last season. However, Perlis FA president Datuk Ahmad Amizal Shaifit Ahmad Rafie has promised to settle all arrears.
The Malaysian Football League (MFL) and FAM will only release the RM1 million incentive to Perlis once the club have settled all arrears within 60 days.
“The effective method to stop this menace is by not handing over incentives to teams who owe money. All teams have until mid-February to do so or their debts will be deducted from their incentives.
“If the incentive is not enough to cover a team’s debt, we will calculate accordingly so that those affected will be paid in accordance to the amount owed.
“FAM and MFL are working together on this. We are doing the best we can to eradicate this problem,” he added.