KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Football League (MFL) has clarified that Kedah FC are not banned from signing new players but merely prohibited from registering their new signings for the Super League season until they clear outstanding player salaries.
It has been reported that a total of six Malaysian league clubs have been slapped with player registration bans by FIFA, the highest number among teams competing in Southeast Asian leagues.
A quick check on knowledge.fifa.com revealed that two of the teams, Kedah FC and Kuala Lumpur City FC, were still actively competing in the Super League.
The four other teams are Kelantan FC, Melaka United FC, Sarawak United FC and Perlis FC.
Earlier, Scoop reported that KL City FC managed to resolve all of their player salary debts with the help of the club’s stakeholders, saving them from a FIFA registration ban.
Kedah FC, fondly referred to by fans as “the Canaries,” have been actively engaged in player acquisitions, sparking curiosity among fans on how they had managed to sign players while facing a FIFA player-registration ban.
The 29-year-old national footballer Syafiq Ahmad, who previously played for Kedah from 2013 to 2017, has emerged as the club’s most significant signing after his loan move from Johor Darul Ta’zim.
Aside from that, Kedah, under the tutelage of Nafuzi Zain, have also signed Rizal Ghazali and Irfan Zakaria from Sabah FC, Zamri Pin Ramli from Negeri Sembilan FC, and Sony Norde from Terengganu FC to strengthen their team for this season.
Speaking to Scoop, MFL chief executive officer Datuk Stuart Ramalingam stressed that Kedah’s player registration ban was just temporary and could easily be lifted if the arrears were cleared.
“Kedah FC can sign any player, but they cannot be registered in the MFL system for the new season. The players can sign an agreement with a team, but the team will not be able to lift the ban until the settlements have been made.
“However, they can register their existing players without facing any issues. To be honest, this player registration ban from FIFA is just a loose ban. It can be quickly lifted if the payment together with interest is paid within 24 hours.
“So what a club will normally need to do is write to the players’ lawyers. They will check if the amount is correct and then write to FIFA, and following that, FIFA will lift the ban once the payment is done,” said Stuart when contacted.
At the same time, Stuart also said that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the MFL would not interfere in helping a club to lift their ban, citing that the governing bodies were just communicators between FIFA and the clubs.
“Neither FAM nor MFL plays a middleman negotiator role. In fact, these clubs that were banned don’t have direct communication with FIFA. So we just help them communicate.
“The clubs will usually ask FAM to check on the status and so on just to make sure that the ban is lifted quickly. Hence, we are there just for a matter of communication,” Stuart added.
Despite financial challenges, Kedah delivered on the pitch last season, securing fourth place with 53 points.
The club boast a prestigious history, having clinched the Super League three times (1993, 2006 and 2007) and won the FA Cup five times (1990, 1993, 2007, 2008 and 2016). – April 4, 2024