ALOR STAR: Kedah Football Association (KFA) will be transformed into a full-fledge professional football club once the finances are back on track.
State Youth and Sports Committee chairman Datuk Aminuddin Omar said to achieve this, KFA will have to secure suitable sponsors to fund the club before it could be fully privatised.
“We are taking steps towards becoming a full-fledged club but it will take some time...at the moment, the state government can't afford to turn KFA into a professional club,” said the BN-Jitra assemblyman.
Aminuddin, who is also KFA honorary secretary, was responding to a supplementary question from (Pas-Kubang Rotan) Mohd Nasir Mustafa who wanted to know if KFA is taking step to become a full fledge professional club.
He said the gate collection at the Darulaman Stadium for this year was recorded at RM4 million, an increase from RM3.2 million collected last year.
Aminuddin said the collection were from Malaysia Super League, the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup matches.
He said KFA spent more than RM800,000 for Super League and it needs RM27 million to cover overall annual management cost.
“We are grateful for Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah leadership in helping to find sponsors for the team. His commitment has put KFA where it is now,” he said.
To another question from (BN-Kuah) Nor Saidi Nayan on rumours on the possibility of Kedah losing a slot in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup competition next year, Aminuddin told the House that KFA has yet to receive any official letter on the matter.
He said the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) chief executive officer Kevin Ramalingam has confirmed there was no official decision on Kedah status in the AFC Cup competition.
“KFA management team is working towards obtaining the licence to play in the AFC Cup.” he said.