Kelantan FC Owner Says He Withheld Players' Full Salaries To Motivate The Team To Win
Having not received their full salary, players were allegedly left struggling to meet monthly commitments, especially at the end of the month.
By Sadho Ram — 30 May 2023, 05:37 PM
Kelantan Football Club (FC) owner Norizam Tukiman today, 30 May, admitted to withholding his players' salaries for the past few months due to the poor performance of the club in the Malaysia Super League
According to Norizam, who is also known as Zamsaham, his decision to withhold the players' salaries was prompted by his desire to motivate the team to try and win every game, reported Harian Metro.
The issue came to light on Sunday, 28 May, when it was reported that the Kelantan FC players, also known as the Red Warriors, were living under financial pressure due to allegedly not receiving their full salaries.
The players were said to be struggling to meet monthly commitments, especially at the end of the month. Some of the players even lost their cars after banks repossessed them.
Norizam, after being quiet for over two days amidst the allegations, has now said that he's ready to pay the players' full salaries
He, however, denied that he was deliberately running away from his responsibilities to the players.
He also denied that he had not paid the players' salaries for over two months.
"Previously, all the players got their full salary. It's true, there were delays and there were some months where the payment was made in stages, but all the players still got their full salary every month. It's not true that there is two months' worth of unpaid salary," he was quoted as saying.
According to Norizam, he only withheld the salaries when the team continued to perform poorly, with 10 losses in a row.
"I told them that I will give them the full salary, just give me the victory. Play really, really hard. I'm not reducing the salary, I'm withholding it," Harian Metro quoted him as saying in his defence.
