KUALA LUMPUR: All of this season’s Super League teams have officially applied for an FA of Malaysia (FAM) license to fulfil the set requirements for next season.
This matter was confirmed by FAM secretary general, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin earlier today with the deadline for the application being on February 15 (Thursday).
Hamidin also said that the teams also applied for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) license which would enable them to feature in the 2019 AFC Champions League, all except for Pahang.
Pahang are not allowed to apply for an AFC license for two years by FAM after refusing to represent the country in the AFC Cup competition this season.
“Meanwhile, 10 out of the 12 teams playing in the 2018 Malaysia Premier League have already applied for their FAM licenses which would enable them to feature in next season’s Super League campaign, if they qualify off course.
“Two more teams, Johor Darul Ta'zim II (JDT II) and Terengganu FC II (TFC II) did not apply because they are 'feeder clubs' for two Super League teams, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Terengganu FC (TFC).
“However, all these team need to get through the evaluation done based on six main criteria, namely sports, infrastructure, personnel management, legal, finance and commerce/business.
“It is as clearly stated in the 2018 Edition of the FAM Club Licensing Rules which would enable them to be granted FAM and AFC licenses,” said Hamidin via a media statement released earlier today.
Pahang were chosen to represent Malaysia for the AFC Cup competition this season as a replacement for Kedah who failed to obtain an AFC license, but the offer was rejected by The Elephants who said that they wanted to focus on domestic competition instead.
Pahang were then found to have breached Article 14 of the FAM Statute by disobeying the national footballing body’s directive by refusing or failing to register their team for the AFC Cup competition this season, therefore resulting in them being barred from applying for an AFC license for two years from this season.