THE Covid-19 crisis has not affected the BA of Malaysia (BAM) and their shuttlers financially, unlike the M-League’s footballers.
Following the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to contain the spread of the virus in the country, several M-League teams have been trying to convince their players to accept pay cuts.
This came after some teams found themselves facing financial woes due to loss of income from gate collections, sponsorships, merchandise sales. And the M-League is currently suspended.
Football clubs in Malaysia are not the only ones facing pay cuts as top European clubs, including Barcelona, are in the same boat.
The FA of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysia Football League (MFL) recently announced that their staff will be taking pay cuts of between 10 and 20 per cent if the MCO is extended beyond April 14.
However, BAM and the national shuttlers are in no such predicament.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said this is because badminton has a completely different operating system.
“I think we cannot compare football with badminton.
“For us (BAM), it’s different because we have a budget and we know how much we spend in a year, including players’ allowances.
“On top of that, our sponsorship deals have not been affected.”
Kenny pointed out that BAM are actually saving money during the Covid-19 pandemic as they are not sending their players for international tournaments during this period.
“In football, they depend highly on ticket sales. It’s really very different,” Kenny told Timesport yesterday.
But while BAM and their players are staying afloat amid the bad economic tidings, things are not looking good for independent shuttlers and badminton clubs, who rely heavily on sponsorship and tournament prize money.