Sumareh faces jumbo crisis with Elephants.
Pahang to take legal action after winger joins Thai club
Pahang’s wantaway winger Mohamadou Sumareh will be hauled to court after it was revealed that he may be joining Thai Premier League outfit Police Tero FC.
The Thai club announced the move on their Facebook page yesterday but it’s far from a done deal, if the Football Association of Pahang (PFA) have their way.
Pahang team manager Datuk Suffian Awang said they would lodge a report to FIFA to stop the transfer and also file a complaint against Sumareh for breach of contract to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
It is learned that Sumareh has obtained his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) through FIFA after declaring his contract with PFA null and void.
The 25-year old has invoked Clause 8.7 of his contract which provides for termination of the contract for non-payment of salary. It also allows him to negotiate with any new club and to be released unconditionally on a free transfer.
However, PFA claim that they are willing to pay him but Sumareh has refused to accept the salary.
PFA have a provision to object to the transfer before 10 days and Suffian has confirmed that they will take legal action.
“We will object to the transfer as allowed by FIFA rules and we will also lodge a complaint to FAM on Sumareh for breaching his contract,” said Suffian.
“We have sought legal advice and have been told that we can take legal action against him. Sumareh has not joined training and went AWOL. Now, it is announced that he is signing with a Thai club. We are upset that things have come to this.
“We heard Sumareh has invoked Clause 8.7 ... we will ask FAM to investigate this matter and take appropriate action.”
Sumareh joined Pahang as a foreign import in 2017 and helped the Elephants win the FA Cup in 2018, becoming a fan favourite at the Darul Makmur Stadium. He became a naturalised Malaysian in 2018 and has earned 19 caps for the Harimau Malaya.
Suffian said they were disheartened with the way Sumareh has treated the team.
“We are very disappointed with him, we never held any players back if they wanted to leave. We even let our former skipper Matthew Davies join Johor Darul Ta’zim earlier this season,” he said.
“Sumareh could have sorted out any differences with us and left when the season is over. We don’t know why he rushed into things and made a huge mess ... we will definitely take legal action against him.”