KUALA LUMPUR – Kuala Lumpur City FC understands and does not have a problem with their players demanding a higher salary to continue their services at the club.
Although the club is currently grappling with a financial crisis that has left its players unpaid and their future uncertain, KL City’s chief executive officer, Stanley Bernard, said that the players have the right to demand more salary.
“They have the right as they have been performing exceptionally whenever they play for the club. My players have been performing exceptionally well since the day I took charge as the CEO of this club.
“We are an overachieving club at the moment, and the primary reason behind our success story is the committed players in our team.
“As a CEO, it’s my duty to meet their requirements, and I can’t blame them for demanding higher salaries and appraisals as they clearly deserve it.”
“I understand that we are currently going through a financial crisis, but that doesn’t mean I should run away from my duties. That’s the reason why I even took a personal loan to settle the debts of their salaries so they will remain at the club.
“We are trying to find funds to pay them on a consistent basis. Either we get our funds in, or we risk losing our star players to earn more elsewhere, and I will not let that happen as long as I’m in charge,” said Stanley.
Stanley also said that the current issues related to finding the funds to pay their players only affects the senior team, as the club is not facing any issues paying the salaries of the players in the development team.
“Since the day I took charge, I have implemented a fair salary structure for all the players, as I always wanted to be fair to everyone.”
“At our club, we don’t overpay anyone, and there’s no special treatment for anyone, including the star players. Our only issue right now is finding the right funds to pay our senior team players, as it costs us around RM 1.2 million per month to cover the senior players’ salaries.
“However, I have decided not to rely too much on foreign players as we would like to save costs in the salary range. Our development teams are doing really well, and we aim to produce more players like Haqimi Azim Rosli, who can catch the attention of the national football team,” Stanley added.
KL City’s Haqimi Azim, who plays as a centre forward, has made 20 appearances for the club since making his debut in a 2–0 win over Sabah last year.
Haqimi Azim has also been called up by national coach Kim Pan-gon for the 2022 AFF Championship and made his debut for Harimau Malaya in a 5–0 win over Laos.
Recently, Stanley and KL City’s president, Khalid Abdul Samad, took out separate loans worth RM 300,000 to pay their players, who were overdue for more than two months.
The club suffered a severe financial blow after its sponsor, Rinani Group Berhad, reduced its sponsorship rate from 51% to 10%.
KL City currently stands seventh in the Malaysia Super League with 31 points. – November 8, 2023