AS the new M-League season kicks off on Feb 28, there will be much interest in how the clubs spend their money.
Following many cases in recent years where teams got into debt and failed to pay their salaries, the Malaysia Football League (MFL) are implementing their Economic Control Programme (ECP) for this season.
The 24 teams (12 in Super League and 12 in Premier League) are now expected to “live within their means” due to rising costs and lesser financial support from MFL. This means players, local or foreign, will no longer be in a position to make demands in contract negotiations.
They will have to settle for less than what they are used to if they want to continue playing in the M-League.
The teams will have to make do with whatever budget they have to avoid getting into debt.
The Super League teams’ budgets for this season (based on players’ signings are: JDT (RM35-RM40 million), Selangor (RM20-RM25 million), Kedah (RM20-RM25 million), Melaka United (RM15 million), Perak (RM15 million), Terengganu (RM15 million), Sabah (RM15 million), Pahang (RM12-RM15 million), PJ City (RM10-RM15 million), Felda United (RM8-RM9 million), UiTM (RM7-RM8 million) and Police (RM4-RM5 million).
Players agent Effendi Jagan Abdullah, the founder of Action Football Asia (M) Sdn Bhd, said the clubs will be looking to get their money’s worth as the costs of running teams rise amid the pressure to deliver success on the field.
According to Effendi, except for PJ City and UiTM, the other 10 teams are spending less this year compared to last season.
“The teams will have to make sure they are working with a realistic budget as times are bad,” he said. “Now it’s the teams who can dictate terms due to the situation. It’s not the players’ market but the clubs’ market.”
He said a RM15 million budget is probably enough for a team to compete but it will be tough to fight the teams with bigger budgets for titles.
“Another thing is that a team can have a lot of money but if the management don’t work properly, then it’s no good too.”
Effendi said JDT owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim is very hands on and he takes into account all the costs, including stadium seats.
“He is serious and the money counts for getting better players, good facilities and such,” Effendi added.
Effendi said Kedah, with an estimated budget of RM20 to RM25 million for this year, may have to revise their priorities as they will also play in the AFC Champions League preliminary rounds.
“Kedah will have to play with the same team, they don’t have a choice because I don’t think they have that kind of strength in the reserves.
“They have to hope there are no injuries, otherwise they will have problems. JDT are different because they can have 11 players but still have replacements.
“I think Kedah will have to prioritise. It’s either they concentrate wholly on the Asian Champions League (ACL) and leave the Super League alone or vice versa. But I think their chances of going further in the ACL are tough compared to JDT.”
Last Friday, Timesport reported that local players are forced to take huge pay cuts for the new season, and Effendi said this is the reality due to poor economic outlook.
“I’ve mentioned before that players who are getting between RM40,000 and RM50,000 can’t get that now and will have to lower their price.
“But when it comes to those in the middle range, they will get displaced and they will have to lower their price. The players coming up from youth or President’s Cup are also displaced.
“The mid-class players will have no job but then again, the higher paying players are also out of job. For example Mat Yo (Norshahrul Idlan Talaha) hasn’t settled himself yet and Amri Yahyah as well.
“There are so many players with no teams and keep calling me but how do I help them?”
Effendi urged the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia and Football Coaches Associations of Malaysia to help players get contracts.
He also hopes the FAM and MFL will consider his suggestion that teams can sign free agents outside the transfer windows.
“I think they should make it mandatory for all clubs to sign at least one free agent (player) with a minimum budget of about RM7,000.”
According to transfermarkt.com, JDT are the most valuable club in the Super League with a worth of RM31.72 million followed by Kedah (RM21 million), Melaka United (RM19.6 million), Selangor (RM16.9 million) and Terengganu (RM14.2 million).