WHO are we kidding? On the surface, the M-League looks attractive thanks to the propagandistic press releases and in kind sponsorships coming into the game through the Malaysian Football League (MFL).
The league portrays itself as a commercial success, but in reality the M-League is falling apart.
PJ City became the latest club in recent years to withdraw from the M-League.
According to PJ City, the club, rebranded from the Malaysian Indian Football Association in 2019, it was not about money but because of the new direction the M-League was taking from next year.
First it was 18 teams under the revamped 2023 Super League before Melaka United and Sarawak United failed to obtain a club licence.
And as of yesterday, the league was down to 15 teams following PJ City's withdrawal.
It is embarrassing that the single-tier competition next year will only have 15 teams considering the rich and proud tradition of Malaysian football.
Clubs next year can sign up to nine foreigners with six allowed to be registered for each match.
This ruling only benefits the rich clubs, especially Johor Darul Ta'zim and those with state funding.
JDT have made the Super League a one-horse race, making every season unattractive and boring.
With the new structure, the gap between JDT and those with decent funding will be bigger while the "poor" teams will only be around to make up the numbers.
How does this improve the commercial value of the league and attract investors?
As things are, most current club owners are struggling to pay even salaries.
Furthermore, clubs in the M-League get peanuts from TV rights and other commercial initiatives.
The blame should not go entirely to the clubs.
MFL, on their part, failed to study the gravity and impact of the initiatives introduced in the last few years.
In modern football, government support is essential in ensuring clubs grow accordingly.
MFL should have negotiated tax exemptions to enable club owners to declare their losses as advertisement costs in their financial statements.
However, MFL look at things differently, and they believe the M-League is heading in the right direction. How on earth is the M-League supposed to grow with teams still withdrawing and failing to obtain licences in the era of privatisation and commercialisation?
MFL speak proudly about their mega plans but at the end of the day, all of their ideas are not really helping the league to grow.
An organiser of a professional league should never introduce initiatives which involve more budget, when the majority of teams are not financially strong.
Furthermore, except for a select few, clubs generally do not earn much from gate collection and merchandising. And the payments from MFL of between RM500,000 and RM3 million (depending on the year) to teams as grants from TV rights and other initiatives, can't even cover monthly salaries of players and stadium rentals.
MFL should stop promising the teams the moon. The M-League will collapse if nothing is done soon.
Ajitpal Singh is the NST Sports Editor and a Red Devil