KUALA LUMPUR, 6 July – It has been a horrible year for Kedah – hogging the limelight for the wrong reasons off the pitch – leaving the football fraternity shell shocked over the non-payment of salaries.
For a team like Kedah, it was really shocking as the Red Eagles were engulfed in a financial mess when many thought it was one of the well-managed teams in the Malaysian League (M-League).
And not to be paid for nearly five months, left the morale of the team at an all-time low.
More was to come when a key pillar in the team – defender Azmeer Yusof has quit the team during the Movement Control Order (MCO) which came into force on March 18.
Azmeer’s premature departure to go into business, clipped the wings of the Red Eagles who are currently in seventh place in the 12-team Super League after four matches.
With Kedah going into the first phase of non-contact training beginning at the end of last week and their Singaporean coach, Aidil Sharin joining the team last Sunday, the northern team hopes a change for the better.
Amin Nazari, who hails from the Philippines, also returned to Alor Setar three days ago while Brazilian Renan Alves’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) swab test done in Rio de Janeiro was negative and he is expected to fly out to Malaysia in the next couple of days.
Kedah began their non-contact training at the end of last month at the Darulaman Stadium under the strict operating procedures of the Health Ministry and the National Security Council.
While Aidil is hoping that the salary issues will be resolved at the earliest so that the team will be in the ‘right mood and spirit’ to face their opponents when the shortened league resumes as early as August or at the latest in September.
For one, Aidil will have his hands full to whip the team into shape when contact training gets the green light as early as July 16.
In the four matches which Kedah played before the league was abandoned, the Red Eagles secured full points in their 2-0 win over Selangor after sharing points with UiTM (1-1) and defeats to reigning champions Johor Darul Takzim (1-0) in the Charity Shield which also counted towards the league and a shock 4-3 defeat to Terengganu.
For the record, Kedah is the reigning FA Cup champions.
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