The Malaysian Professional Footballers Association (PFAM) has profusely thanked the Crown Prince of Johor His Royal Highness Major General Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim for his statement in support of the players negotiating wage cuts.
In a press release today PFAM said the His Royal Highness’ statement and support reflected his concern for the future of the game.
According to PFAM, the statement also supports contract negotiation issues as suggested by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Football League of Malaysia (MFL).
“PFAM, with great gratitude, would like to thank HRH Tunku Ismail for the support given to players on the issue.
“The statement is also a clear signal that the rights and welfare of the players must be respected before any negotiation process takes place,” PFAM said in a press statement.
In his statement, HRH Tunku Ismail warned Clubs in Malaysia not to use the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to cut wages without settling the outstanding dues.
“Most players in the country are ready to cooperate with their respective clubs regarding salary reductions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but before the teams make salary cuts, please ensure that clubs which owe players must settle their arrears with the players first.”
His Royal Highness went on to say, “It shouldn’t be a situation where two or three months of salary is owed, but now Covid-19 is being used as an excuse to cut salaries. Teams sych as Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka United and Penang must settle their arrears with the players first, before making salary deductions due to this pandemic.”
“This is not a question of players refusing to cooperate, instead they are ready to work together. But make sure all debts with the players are settled first before using Covid-19 as an excuse to cut salaries. Most teams depend 100% on state government allocations, and it is puzzling that these teams have still not been paid salaries. This is akin to not acting in a trustworthy manner. Teams must not burden the state government.”
Further, PFAM also cited a media statement giving a clear indication that the rights and welfare of the players should be respected before undertaking any negotiation process.
Accordingly, according to PFAM teams that still have arrears will need to settle the arrears immediately.
“We at PFAM call on the teams in arrears, to settle their arrears immediately.”