KUALA LUMPUR: Former KL City FC president Khalid Samad fears that the Super League club could be shut down in the future due to "hidden hands" at play.
Khalid, who served as Kuala Lumpur FA (KLFA) president from 2019 to March this year, said "dirty politicking" has affected the club.
He alleged that "hidden hands" are preventing KL City from getting funds that were promised to them.
The former Federal Territories minister said he decided to step down from his KLFA post after learning that the club wouldn't be getting the funds if he remained as the president.
"I resigned last March to ensure that the players' salaries were paid and that KL City's (league) licence was not revoked. After that, three million ringgit was given to settle the outstanding salaries for 2023," he said at a press conference today.
"Up to this moment, the club has not received a single cent from them (for this season). I have been informed that there is an individual who wants to become (KLFA) president but has not gotten the position.
"And as long as Mr X does not become president, not a single sen will be given to the club. Due to political interests, the situation in KL City has become increasingly difficult.
"I'm very disappointed because what was promised, that if I resigned, the money would come in, has not been fulfilled.
"Until now, as we know, the club is still waiting for the sponsorship money... this is unreasonable and should not be allowed to continue.
"I see the situation in KLFA becoming increasingly critical, so I need to speak up even though I'm no longer in the leadership of this club. I have also brought this issue to the attention of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, as well as the Federal Territories Minister, and I hope there will be a resolution."
KL City's financial woes came to a boil after their skipper Paulo Josue alleged that he has not received his salary for seven months.
Khalid, however, blamed the Malaysian Football League (MFL) for changing the M-League calendar, which put the clubs in a fix as there were no matches or training for the first three months of the year.
"The changes to the calendar made the situation challenging and made it complicated to pay the players' outstanding salaries for the last three months of last year. We had received a warning from the MFL for it," said Khalid.
"So, the outstanding salaries should be counted from May or April when our preseason training started in April. But there are also players who have had contracts since last year, so they include the months without training in their calculations.
"But I still respect and appreciate Josue for continuing to play without a salary during that period."