Moving on: Sukhrob Nurulloev (left) had mutually agreed to terminate his contract to pursue his career in leagues outside of Malaysia. — Kedah FC
PETALING JAYA: The Canaries have gone from clipped wings to broken ones. The Kedah football team’s financial crisis took a turn for the worse as they will lose three more key players.
After the departures of Haitian winger Sony Norde, Bahraini midfielder Habib Haroon and centreback Irfan Zakaria, the northern outfit have lost the services of Ukrainian winger Sukhrob Nurulloev, Brazilian centreback Cleylton Santos and midfielder Faiz Nasir.
The club confirmed their exits through a media statement.
“The owners, board of directors, and management of Kedah would like to extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to Sukhrob Nurulloev, Cleylton Santos, and Faiz Nasir for their contributions and dedication during their time with the club,” said the statement.
“They have made a significant impact on the field with their agility and unwavering commitment. Sukhrob and Cleylton have mutually agreed to terminate their contracts to pursue careers in leagues outside of Malaysia. We wish them continued success and the very best in their new ventures.
“As for Faiz Nasir, whose loan spell has ended, he has shown tremendous fighting spirit and made meaningful contributions to the team. Their efforts and sacrifices will always be remembered as part of the history of Kedah.”
Kedah’s training sessions have also been badly affected as many players have chosen to boycott practice due to unpaid salaries.
Interim head coach Victor Andrag had previously said that the players who still showed up for training sessions are just doing so out of sympathy for the coaching staff, who have also not been paid their wages.
There have also been reports that the Kedah management are paying some money, however small, to the players to keep them attending training and playing in matches.
Some Kedah players claimed that the management could still pay them RM1,000-RM3000 a month to take care of their basic needs.
The situation reached an alarming stage when some of the spouses of the players vented their anger on social media over their unpaid salaries.
Irfan’s wife Mas Hamizah Izhar even claimed that her husband has not been paid for nine months!
Kedah are currently ninth in the league with 17 points.
