KUALA LUMPUR: The First Instance Body (FIB) is prepared to take stern action against KL City and Kedah if they fail to resolve their salary arrears by the second deadline of March 30.
The Malaysian Football League (MFL), in a statement today, announced that both teams failed to make the 50 percent payment of last year's salary arrears when the initial deadline closed on March 15.
FIB chairman Sheikh Nasir Sheikh Sharif, in the statement, acknowledged that KL City has undergone top management changes, and their patron Fahmi Fadzil (Communications Minister) has pledged to promptly settle the outstanding salary matters.
Regarding Kedah, he mentioned that the club paid RM600,000 as part of the current salary arrears, but they did not comply with the 50 percent payment requirement.
"Nonetheless, FIB has received Kedah's financial evidence of funding sources that will be received by the club soon," he said.
If KL City and Kedah fail to settle all outstanding salary amounts by the second deadline, they will face penalties, including a deduction of three points in the 2024-2025 Super League competition and an immediate fine of RM50,000, as per the Licensing Club Regulations.
"FIB will also reassess the club licence status if they fail to meet the second deadline and do not have a solid financial footing to continue competing in the M-League," Sheikh Nasir said.
Meanwhile, FIB decided not to grant a national licence to Perlis United due to their failure to meet additional requirements after the announcement regarding the issuance of an M3 Amateur Football League (AFL) extraordinary licence on March 7.
According to Sheikh Nasir, FIB set conditions to ensure that all reasonable financial efforts are made before issuing any licence to Perlis United based on four additional criteria before the submission deadline on March 22.
However, the club were found to have failed three out of the four initial conditions by not submitting documents as requested and had violated all given deadlines.
Sheikh Nasir said this includes evidence of funds received in their bank account amounting to RM5 million, as stated in the cheque submitted before March 9, besides a declaration signed by officials and players stating that there were no outstanding debts on Dec 31 before March 13.
Elaborating further, he mentioned that evidence of sponsorship agreements sealed between Perlis United and four potential sponsors was not presented.
"With that, only 13 clubs will play in the Super League," he added. --BERNAMA