IT is the end of the road for Felda United and UKM FC following the FA of Malaysia's (FAM) decision to kick them out of the M-League for failing to meet financial requirements.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam, in a statement yesterday, said FAM were forced to come to the decision as the financial status of their new investors was not sound enough to meet expenses.
He added that the decision to disqualify both teams from the M-League from next season was also based on concerns over issues related to salary payments to players and officials.
"This process was taken seriously to give both teams a chance to secure new investors to ensure the welfare of team players and officials," said Stuart.
He said although both clubs managed to settle the club privatisation process by Sept 30, there were some negative developments regarding corporate support and funding.
This forced the FAM to seek further documentation from the new management regarding their current financial status, which were supposed to have been handed to the FAM by Oct 19.
Stuart said although the new Felda management, The Fighters Sdn Bhd, managed to secure new investors, the financial status of the management and investors was not strong enough according to the financial documents provided by the company to FAM.
He also said that Varsity Boys Sdn Bhd, the UKM FC new management, failed to provide strong documentation relating to the financial status of the team's new investors.
UKM had previously announced that they would not be responsible for the financial issues and payroll of the UKM team for the M-League next season.
With this latest development, next season's Premier League will see only 10 teams vying for the title.
The Malaysian Football League (MFL), however, may come up with solutions to turn it into a 12-team competition soon.
Following the decision, Felda and UKM, if they are still interested, can still play in the M3 League from next season.
The MFL, meanwhile, will come up with a solution for the Premier League soon.
MFL chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan said they will study the situation following FAM's announcement.