Newly relegated Perak FC are staring at an uncertain future following their failure to pay their players and staff members’ salaries for the past two and a half to seven months. Things are so bad at the Bos Gaurus, newly-appointed head coach Yusri Che Lah revealed that players have begun selling off their personal items such as motorcycles just to survive the day.
Perak’s financial issues saw the 2018 Liga Super Malaysia runners-up suffering their first-ever relegation out of the Malaysian top-flight at the end of the 2021 season, and things just got worse in 2022.
Despite the presence of new owners Impact Media and Communication, Perak continued to struggle to pay their employees, leading to the league imposing a three-point deduction last Friday. The Bos Gaurus will suffer a further deduction of six points should they fail to settle their salary arrears by April 14th, which could effectively condemn the 8-time Malaysia Cup winners to a second-straight relegation.
With Malaysia now observing the holy month of Ramadan, head coach Yusri spoke to Utusan Malaysia about how his players are set to experience their toughest fasting month yet amidst Perak’s financial difficulties.
“How are the players going to spend Ramadan with no money?” Yusri asked, “I’m worried that they aren’t able to feed themselves due to the lack of salaries. I really hope that there’s a solution to this.”
“The players had to sell their valuables like motorcycles and their wristwatches just to support their daily needs and so that their parents could watch them play,” Yusri continued, “How could this be happening in a Malaysian football environment heading towards professionalism?”
Previously on April 2nd, Perak CEO Muhammad Yunus Zakariah told Berita Harian that he would be willing to sell Perak as low as RM 1 just so that they could find someone who could save the Bos Gaurus from their financial predicament. The club aren’t even able to rent their own stadium and relevant facilities for the remainder of the 2022 season, such was Perak’s poor financial state.