KUALA TERENGGANU: Former Terengganu City FC player Shafuan Adli Shaari has appealed to Malaysia Football League (MFL) to consider extending a second lifeline to the troubled east coast club by allowing them to take part in the Premier League this season.
Shafuan who is representing his teammates said that he has already held talks with The Sharks new management as soon as he found out that Perlis were dropped from competition in the Premier League effective yesterday (Wednesday).
“From the talks I can tell you that we have unanimously agreed that the club should take part in the Premier League this season to replace Perlis, that is of course provided MFL and the FA of Malaysia (FAM) are willing to accept us back.
“We the players and the new management of Terengganu City are very serious about this matter and are not just simply talking, as we already have a group of players and there has been an extension in player registration of a further 30 days that has been accorded to the Perlis players.
“We are ready to play even though three rounds of matches have already been played, so now that Perlis have been omitted from competition by MFL, we are all hoping that they can accept Terengganu City back to compete in the Premier League to take up the slot left vacant by The Northern Lions, as it is not a problem for us to do so, we just hope that MFL and FAM hear this plea of ours and are able to understand as well as empathise with us by taking us back into the league.
“We are also prepared to meet with MFL and FAM officials to further discuss such a possibility because we want to get on with our lives, playing careers and livelihood as professional players,” stressed Shafuan.
On November 19 last year, last season’s FAM Cup champions were left in utter disappointment and disarray when they were denied the chance to play in the Premier League after being banned themselves by MFL despite earning automatic promotion to the second tier of Malaysian league football, following the team’s stubbornness to resolve salary arrears issues involving both players and officials.
However just last month (January), Terengganu City’s new management made a promise to resolve all the salary arrears owed to players, officials and coaching staff amounting to more than RM900,000, though with the condition that FAM and MFL allow the team to compete in the Premier League this season.
However, such a condition was not entertained by both MFL and FAM which left the players frustrated because they could not receive their salaries which are long overdue, apart from the fact that they could not play in the Premier League to continue with their careers as professional footballers.
Terengganu City emerged as FAM Cup champions after they managed to beat closest rivals Selangor United 2-0 in the final at the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) Stadium in Cheras back in September last year.
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