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Friday August 28, 2009

Sarawak just making up the numbers, says caretaker coach Wahet

By ERIC SAMUEL

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak have conceded that they will merely be making up the numbers in the Malaysia Cup competition.

Caretaker coach Abdul Wahet Uji said that with the limited financial resources, the Crocs would have to look at ways to fulfil their obligation to complete their fixtures in Group B.

“We are in no position to talk about plans and ambitions or hiring players on loan. We are living on a day-to-day basis and we are still struggling to get funds to pay the salaries of the players and other payments owed to them,” said a disappointed Wahet.

Sarawak have been drawn in Group B with Johor, Negri Sembilan and Tereng­ganu.

Wahet said that the team had yet to commence training as they were still trying to find ways and means to pay up the outstanding salaries since March.

He added that the FA of Sarawak (FAS) were also unsure of their position in the Premier League next season as they have yet to pay up the RM377,132 owed to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

The FA of Malaysia (FAM) have set Nov 30 as the deadline and teams who fail to do so face expulsion from the Malaysian Super League (MSL) next season.

For next season, the FAM have also laid down mandatory conditions for participating teams. Teams in the Super League must have a minimum budget of RM2.5mil and be able to deposit RM150,000 with the FAM by Oct 14 while teams in the Premier League need to have a budget of RM1.5mil and a deposit of RM100,000.

“We still owe the players about RM400,000 in salaries alone since 2007. It is hard to see how the team will be able to survive next season if we are unable to find any sponsors to bail us out,” said Wahet, who is also the executive secretary of the FAS.

“I’ve to juggle my time doing adminis­tration work at the office and also as a coach. This is the third time they have call­ed me to assist the team after the previous coaches resigned because of non-payment of salaries. This is nothing new here.”

Wahet had replaced David Mitchel in 2006, Pengiran Bala in 2007 and Robert Alberts this season after the Dutchman left the team after barely three months.

Sarawak’s total gate collections (13 home matches) this season came to about RM30,000. But their travelling expenses alone was about RM260,000. It costs them RM20,000 each time the team fly out of Kuching for matches.

In the 13-team Premier League this season, Sarawak finished one rung off the basement.

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