In the crimson and salaries unpaid – what’s ailing Malaysia’s soccer golf equipment? | USAEMALL.com

A CHICKEN-AND-EGG SITUATION

But attracting and retaining sponsors is a challenge, football insiders said.

In February 2023, Bernama reported that international conglomerate Bin Zayed International had come on board as KDA FC’s main international sponsor for the season. The club’s majority owner Mohd Daud Bakar also listed several other sponsors the club had attracted.

But barely a year later in March 2024, the club was reportedly in financial trouble, with the state government calling for parties to help or sponsor the club, which had privatised in 2023, according to news outlet Malay Mail.

In 2021, clubs were required to privatise – turning from football associations (FAs) to football clubs – in order to play in the Super League and Premier League, the country’s top professional tiers. The Premier League was discontinued in 2023. 

The AFC had made it mandatory for qualifying clubs that want to compete in their competitions such as the AFC Champions League to obtain a licence through their respective member associations.

This meant that the teams had to be separate legal entities from their national or state FAs to ensure proper governance, financial transparency, and professional management. 

In Malaysia, state governments had previously served as the main financiers for football teams, with annual budgets directly dependent on state allocations. 

Shahril of Selangor FC said it is not easy to get sponsors for clubs in Malaysia as the return on investment is relatively low, unlike for major clubs in Europe that have a global fan base.

Much of the revenue of the world’s major clubs are from broadcasting rights, not from match ticket sales, he said.

Football observers noted the chicken-and-egg situation when it comes to drawing sponsors and developing other revenue streams: A product has to be good for sponsors to be willing to come on board, but it is uncertain if the MSL has reached the standard.

“If you have a good product, the supporters and sponsors will come in. But right now, there is nothing in it for them,” said Zulakbal Abd Karim, a sports science and coaching lecturer at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s clubs lack support from local fans, agreed sports analyst Pekan Ramli.

Only 56,000 fans turned up for this year’s Malaysia Cup final match between JDT and Sri Pahang at the 90,000-capacity Bukit Jalil Stadium, he pointed out. 

The lack of competition in the MFL does not help, Pekan said. JDT has won the league title for the past 11 years, and the recent increase of the cap on foreign players could further widen the gap between clubs.

“If some teams can have 15 imports but others can only afford two or three, is there fair play in that?” he questioned. “We cannot just prioritise certain teams and leave others behind …  we have to understand that the resources of each club are different.”