KUALA LUMPUR: FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Amin should resign if he feels he has not improved the landscape of Malaysian football, according to sports observer Sadek Mustaffa.
Mustaffa's perspective comes in light of recent developments involving FAM, including a poison pen letter that went viral last week.
The letter accused FAM of various wrongdoings and claimed that Hamidin receives a monthly salary of RM90,000, not including allowances from the Asian Football Confederation and Fifa.
It has angered fans as FAM has failed to raise the standards of the M-League and the national team, currently ranked world No. 138.
Sadek, a senior sports science lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara, said since assuming office in 2018, Hamidin's performance as president has been unsatisfactory.
"Hamidin should take responsibility and step down if he feels that he has let down the fans and the public as he receives a lucrative salary," said Sadek yesterday.
"He should only stay on if he genuinely feels he can change the landscape of Malaysian football and improve the national team's ranking.
"Malaysian football continues to be beset with unpaid salary issues. The 2024-2025 season has not yet begun, and we are already witnessing the recurrence of the same issues.
"Usually, the chief executive officers of corporations are paid that kind of salary. However, they bring in revenues for their companies. Yet, FAM persists in requesting government funding.
"All these issues are embarrassing. I still recall attending a sports conference in Australia many years ago where Malaysian football was used as an example of what not to emulate. The situation has not improved much since then."
Sadek urged the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Sports Commissioner's Office (SCO) to look into the topic of remuneration for national sports association presidents.
He believes that overly lavish remuneration, be it in the form of salaries, allowances, or other benefits, could set off an unhealthy culture within the associations.
"No other association or non-governmental organisation pays their president that much," he said.
"I believe this sets a precedent and serves as a wake-up call which the Sports Ministry and SCO should look into and possibly consider changing the Sports (Development) Act accordingly.
"If it is that lucrative, nobody would want to be a CEO. It would be better to just be the president of an association.
"If it is allowed to continue, other associations will also implement the same thing.
"Presidents will look to hang on to their positions until they die. This is not healthy for Malaysian sports.
"I believe it is okay for association secretary generals to receive salaries as they are there running the association on a day-to-day basis but the president's position is more of a voluntary role."
Sadek added that Malaysian sports must be brave in implementing changes to move forward.
