The Sarawak FA team has failed to get the national license which requires them to play in the Liga Super.
According to a press statement by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) six of the nine teams that applied for the national license from the Liga Premier were not granted the national license.
The teams which were refused the license were Sabah FA, Sarawak FA, Felcra FC, UKM FC, PDRM FA and Penang.
According to FML, this means “all six teams are not able to compete in the 2019 Liga Super, should they qualify”.
On a positive note, Felda United FC and UITM FC were granted national license while MIFA was granted a national license with a sanction.
FAM said that “the decisions were made during the FAM Club Licensing First Instance Body (FIB) that was chaired by Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif on 14th November 2018”.
The failure of Sarawak FA to obtain the football national license is not new as the team known as the Crocs had problems obtaining the license in the past.
The management under Posa then had pointed out that they couldn’t obtain the license due to the former management’s audit reports, a claim which was rebutted by the then secretary Abdullah Julaihi. At that point, fans rallied behind Posa and FAS had hoped Sarawak FA would get the license in 2019.
Unfortunately, the latest announcement by FAM does put a huge setback to the hopes.
According to FAM, “In order for the team to be granted a license they would have to be assessed in six key criteria, namely Sporting, Infrastructure, Personnel & Administration, Legal, Financial and Business which are stated in the FAM Club Licensing Regulations Edition 2018.”
Despite the setback, “Sarawak FA and the rest of the five teams can still appeal the decision” said FAM.
The National licenses are valid for one season and teams playing in the 2019 Liga Premier are not required to have the license just yet.
However, FAM stressed that “clubs would require a license to participate in the Liga Premier from season 2020 onward.”
Note: The previous article was erroneous as we mistakenly said that the Malaysia Football League (MFL) was the source of the statement. The correct source was the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). The error was noted at 17:10hrs and was corrected at 17:11hrs. We apologize for the mistake.
