Endangered Rhinos travel to Penang
SPECULATIONS of internal problems and unpaid salaries are swirling around the Sabah team in the Super League.
Allegations of a “team boycott” over unpaid salaries since February have surfaced in social media.
Sabah FC, who are 10th in the 12-team league with one win, two draws and four defeats, are scheduled to play Penang away on Sunday.
The troubled team left yesterday morning for Georgetown.
Conspicuously missing from the team are captain Rawilson
Batuil, Azzizan Nordin and Maffry Balang.
Sabah FC chief executive officer Khairul Firdaus Akbar yesterday denied the allegations of internal problems in the team, saying the Rhinos are still focused on the league challenge.
However, in a statement issued yesterday, Khairul admitted there has been a delay in settling the wages of the players. But he said it was not three months owing as alleged.
Insisting that Sabah FA will not neglect their players, he said: “We wish to clarify that the relationship between the management and the players remain cordial.
“The management will ensure that things will run smoothly in the future,” he said.
A player, who declined to be named, said some fans probably saw the Sabah players walking off the field during training on Thursday in Kota Kinabalu, and thought it was a “boycott”.
“We did voice out some issues with the officials when we were on the pitch.
“The officials later told us to go back and cool off.”
He clarified that there were no heated arguments between the players and officials but some “touchy issues”, including salary, were raised.
The player said the Sabah FC management also questioned the team for their lacklustre performance against Johor FC, which saw Sabah lose 4-1 at home earlier this week.
Sabah became the latest team to be accused of failing to pay their players after Perak, Kedah, Melaka United and Sarawak United were reported to face the same problem.