A FEW days ago, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia FC (UKM) became the talk of the football fraternity when their players agreed to a pay cut despite not earning much.
Even the FA of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysia Football League (MFL) praised UKM, citing the Premier League side as a great example for other teams to follow.
But this is not true at all. Yesterday, UKM players declared they never agreed to a pay cut.
UKM captain Asnan Ahmad has now revealed that his statement was fabricated after MFL quoted him as saying that their players have agreed to a salary reduction.
Both midfielder Asnan and defender K. Reuben are not amused over the affair as the UKM team have never agreed to a 15 to 20 per cent pay cut.
Much to their chagrin, the other teams in the M-League have been urged by FAM to use UKM and JDT as examples in the call to reduce salaries due to the Covid-19 and MCO impact.
UKM players feel it is an injustice to slash their salaries as most of them earn below RM5,000, and furthermore their contracts will be over in September, two months before the official end of the season.
Asnan said: “We only agreed to discuss further on the suggestion by the (UKM) management to cut salaries.
“UKM (management) cannot use excuses like loss of income from gate collections and jersey sales as the club earn almost nothing from this area.
“The management claimed before the start of the season that they have enough funds to run the team until September. So why must they cut salaries now?
“JDT are different. Their players earn high salaries and for them to take a pay cut is nothing. Our management are instead using the Covid-19 as an excuse.”
On whether the UKM management had spoken to him about cutting wages, Asnan said they did so in the form of an instruction.
“I told the management that we, players, need to discuss with them first. Taking a 15 to 20 per cent pay cut is a lot considering that most of us earn less than RM5,000.
“It is also upsetting that I was quoted in a MSL press release as saying the players have agreed… it now reflects badly on me.
“If the management still want to cut pay, it should only be very minimal. We are now in discussion with the management.
“UKM, I think, only want to save money, and the MCO has given them an excuse to slash salaries. They have no plans to donate to the Covid-19 fund as JDT have done.”
On whether the players are prepared to withdraw from the UKM team if their management stay firm, Asnan said: “At this stage, we want to discuss with the management and find a solution
“We have never talked about pulling out of the team. We all love UKM and want to play for them,” he added.
A source told Timesport that UKM’s pay cut move is to use the money saved from the exercise to pay compensation for their two foreign players (who were released after UKM’s second match of the season).
According to former international defender Reuben, when the management first proposed the pay cut, all the players disagreed.
“UKM are a team with a small budget, and from the start, they always had money issues.
“It is now said that we have set a precedent for other teams in the M-League to slash salaries.
“My friends from the other teams asked me why UKM players agreed to this. Their clubs are now pressuring them to take a pay cut as well.
“This is so unfair as we never agreed to anything. I think the local football bodies should stop comparing small teams in the M-League with those in the English Premier League when talking about salaries cut.
“They (governing bodies) should think first before issuing statements, encouraging teams to hold discussions with players on cutting salaries.
“We earn nothing much and if you slash salaries, it will affect us. It is annoying that everyone is saying that footballers, regardless of how much they earn, should take a pay cut.
“Footballers are also humans and we need money to sustain ourselves and our families.
“Players made sacrifices by accepting low wages. UKM are a small team and we travel on buses, regardless of how far the destinations are, and stay in budget hotels for away matches.
“When we were negotiating contracts before the new season, we asked for an increase of only RM100 to RM200, as we knew UKM were not a big club.
“But now, they want to slash our salaries despite them already having a budget until September,” Reuben added.