KUCHING: Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) secretariat confirmed that it has submitted all the required documents to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) First Instance Body (FIB) for the club licensing.
The spokesman said he emailed all the documents to FAM-FIB on October 30, the final day to do so.
“We are now waiting for the decision by FAM-FIB,” he disclosed here yesterday.
FAM have told M-League teams to take club licensing seriously and not treat it as a mere “examination” for them to “pass” in order to continue playing.
The 12-team Super League is in its third year of club licensing while the 12-team Premier League is in its first year.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam has said some teams are still not serious about club licensing even when it should be SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
Nine teams that played in the 2019 Super League have been granted national club licences for the 2020 season. They are Johor Darul Ta’zim, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Pahang, Selangor, Terengganu, Felda United and PJ City.
Out of the nine, only six (JDT, Kedah, KL, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu) have obtained Asian Football Confederation licences.
Melaka United and PKNS have been given only conditional licences, which means they have until October 30 to meet the required criteria, which include stadium safety, a settlement letter from Socso, Employees Provident Fund or Inland Revenue Board.
Failure to do so will result in Melaka United and PKNS being demoted to the Premier League, and their licences may be revoked.
As for Perak SEDC, Stuart said FAM-FIB have turned down their appeal for a licence.
“The committee have decided to reject Perak SEDC’s appeal. They failed to get a national licence after failing to meet the criteria and will be relegated to the 2020 Premier League.
“They have not shown commitment or uploaded any document despite FAM-FIB’s efforts to contact them,” said FAM-FIB chairman Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif.
Three teams (Negri Sembilan, Sabah and Uitm) of the nine that competed in the 2019 Premier League have met the requirements and granted national club licences for the 2020 season.
Police, Penang and Selangor United have been given conditional licences and if they fail to fulfil the criteria required, they will be demoted to the M3 League.
Nasir said the committee have postponed to October 30 on the action to be taken against Premier League teams Kelantan, Sarawak and UKM FC.
“We have decided to show them some leniency as this is the first year for these Premier League teams,” said Nasir.
The FAM-FIB also required clubs to submit a statutory declaration from Socso, EPF or IRB to them latest by December 15. FAM-FIBwill visit the clubs and do auditing after December 15 to ensure that what is stated in the declaration letter is true for the 2020 M-League season.
