THE Cabinet Committee for Sports is worried. Its financial woes were even raised in Parliament on Tuesday but come what may, the FA of Malaysia has no intention of reverting to semi-professional or amateur football.

Nine of FAM's affiliates owe the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) RM4.9 million, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) is also chasing some for payments while certain state FAs also owe the various stadium boards, giving rise to speculation that football, in total, could be as much as RM15 million in debt.

In such dire straits are some state FAs that one, as revealed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak after the Cabinet Committee meeting on Monday, has even written to the Sports Ministry for financial help.

This said, FAM general secretary Lt Jen (rtd) Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad, is alarming but the national body is confident that the sport will soon find its way out of the woes it is in.

But as confident as Azzuddin is, stability will only be forthcoming if FAM's affiliates agree to implement the resolutions that were passed during a brainstorming session last week.
This, given how jealously the states guard their turf, is a major battle.

"Reverting to semi-pro or amateur football is not an option. It is not just the states as FAM is also in a tight financial situation. We can't help the affiliates as (FAM president) Sultan Ahmad Shah has ordered that there be no bail-outs," said Azzuddin yesterday.

"The situation looks bad but Sultan Ahmad Shah wants the states to not only manage their funds well but also source for additional funding."

FAM gives each affiliate an annual grant of RM250,000, a far cry from the heady Dunhill days of RM1 million.

Azzuddin said what FAM wants to see is the states building partnerships the same way the national body has.

"This year, we have established an excellent working relationship with the Education Ministry, and many problems faced before have been resolved. Our teams are well taken care of and there is both financial and academic support for the players."

However, FAM's affiliates will not find it easy to stand on their own, mainly because of the perception the public and potential sponsors have about the state of the game.

Azzuddin agreed but said FAM is taking steps to add lustre and quality to the Malaysian Super League (MSL) and Premier League in 2010.

"The new chief executive officer of MSL (Kuhan Loo) has come with some interesting ideas and he is also looking at a revamp in terms of the quality of football and image.

"Also, FAM and the MSL management are looking for new sponsors for the league."

Azzuddin will be writing to Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was tasked by Najib to look into football's woes, and FAM believes that with some help, football will be on firm financial footing again.