Dato Posa Majais
KUCHING (Aug 26): All salary arrears owed to players and officials of the Sarawak United Football Club (SUFC) are expected to be settled soon.
SUFC president Dato Posa Majais told Stadium Astro that all salary arrears would be settled within two weeks, and that he regretted the situation.
Posa added that the matter would be resolved after a new allocation from the Sarawak government was approved for the team which is playing in the Super League.
But this contradicted an internal memo dated Aug 7 sent to players and officials, in which he promised salary payments would be made before Aug 20.
According to the memo, salaries will be paid to all players and officials before Aug 20.
If this matter is not implemented by the president and management, all players and officials have the right to decide not to play in the next match,” stated the memo sighted by news portal Malaysiakini.
It is understood that they have two remaining matches to play for this season.
The SUFC players were left in dire straits due to alleged payment delays from the SUFC management.
According to a letter dated Aug 7 sent to the team’s management by the players and officials, salaries for April, May, June and July this year were still pending.
Also pending are medical, flight claims and match bonuses together with payments from the previous football seasons and accommodation rental payments.
The SUFC group (players and officials) told the management that they were collectively concerned with the constant delays in salary obligations and other financial commitments.
“We have been reasonable, patient, understanding and above all, hardworking.
“We have been nothing but professional thus far. Despite constant delays, we are committed to giving our very best in training and games considering the constraints on the team.
“However, we have financial obligations and families to look after. As we write this, we are being owed salaries, allowances and claims,” stated the group in the letter.
They added that delayed salary payments had violated Clause 3.4 of their contracts which reads: “The club on a monthly basis, as agreed between the club and the player in accordance with Schedule A, shall pay the players salary on the specified date.”
It is understood that the letter was signed by all players of the team and their management had also not made Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions since January last year.
Meanwhile, Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM) confirmed that they have received several reports from SUFC players.
The association said that it started issuing notices to SUFC to pay arrears to several complainants on June 14 and a follow-up notice was also given to the SUFC management on July 8.
Although they have received a response from the club to settle the salary arrears, until now, the arrears have not been fully cleared.
“Even more regrettable, last June, the players had to face the situation of receiving a notice to vacate their accommodations because the rent payment was not paid by the club,” said PFAM in a statement.
It said the SUFC management should focus on carrying out their responsibilities to avoid heavy punishments imposed on the team.
PFAM said it would bring the matter up to Fifa’s National Dispute Resolution Chamber (NDRC) soon.