KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) has come down hard on KL City for inaccurate/false declarations in their club licensing application.
MFL's First Instance Body (FIB), which is an independent regulatory body, has fined KL City RM 50,000, docked them six Super League points apart from a transfer ban until the end of the 2024-2025 season.
That is not all. Cash-strapped Kl City face more punishments.
They have been penalised another RM50,000, based on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) licensing regulations and their AFC 2024-2025 licence is cancelled. They are also barred from applying for AFC licence for two MFL club licensing cycles (2024-2025 and 2025-2026).
The FIB, in a statement today, said that KL City initially adhered to the rules set out in the MFL Club Licensing Regulations Edition 2023 (MFL CLR 2023).
However, subsequent investigations, initiated after a disclosure by KL City Director Syed Yazid about unpaid wages, showed that the club's submissions contained inaccurate and false information regarding their financial status and contributions to government agencies.
The FIB audit, which included a detailed review via the AFC CLAS system and consultations with government agencies - Employees' Provident Fund, Inland Revenue Board and Social Security Organization - confirmed that KL City had submitted inaccurate declarations of no arrears as of June 30, 2023, for the National Licence, and Dec 31, 2023, for the AFC Licence.
The emails from the respective agencies did not authenticate or verify the documents provided by KL City.
The FIB hoped the punishments will serve as a stern reminder to all Super League clubs on the importance of maintaining integrity and accuracy in their documentation submissions.
Meanwhile the MFL Board of Directors may consider additional actions against KL City based on these violations.