KUALA LUMPUR, 20 July – He came with high hopes of turning the tide for Kelantan football – both in clearing up the financial mess and also on the field.
However, a year after being elected to the hot-seat as the Kelantan FA president, Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah has thrown in the towel.
Popularly known as ”Cikgu Rahim” the KAFA supremo has tendered his resignation effective July 6 leaving the East Coast state rudderless. However, it must be remembered that Wan Rahim and his deputy Datuk Seri Afandi Hamzah were told to “‘take rest” from their respective posts at the beginning of the month.
There was more to come when vice-president Mohd Rowi Abdullah quit his post in a huff. In a turn of events another vice-president Datuk Shaari Mat Hussin was appointed the acting president.
Kafa secretary-general Husin Deraman confirmed Wan Rahim’s resignation and said that the association would continue to function under Shaari’s leadership.
Kelantan is in deep financial crisis, made worse when the FA of Malaysia suspended all leagues in the country on March 16 – two days before the country was lockdown by the federal government to check the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
KAFA landed in hot soup after their former Brazilian import Cassio de Jesus filed a case with Fifa – the world football governing body – over the long-overdue payments in salaries and other fees.
The Brazilian is owed close to RM 630,000 during his two-year stint with the Red Warriors in 2018 and 2019.
Kelantan – currently seventh in the Premier League – plies it football trade on a shoe-string budget. The East Coast hopefuls also owed the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
To make matters worse for Kelantan some of their sponsors who had pledged for the new season left the team in a lurch when they abandoned KAFA.
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