13 Jan Gambling with players’ injuries?

IF their apathy was limited to non-payment of wages, EPF and income tax payments before, some teams are now flouting their moral obligations as well. Only five teams have insured their players for the 2009 season and what makes it sad is this is being done without any regard to what the consequences could be. Previously, this was never an issue as the FA of Malaysia deducted the RM75,000 premium from each team’s annual grant of RM350,000.

However, this policy was changed at the start of this season as teams were given the full amount and, obviously, some have decided the money is best used for other purposes. “I have just come to know that I am not insured. I thought the players would have been insured at the beginning of the season,” said one player who declined to be identified. “This is not professional. If something happens to us while playing, we will end up getting nothing and neither will we have money for medical treatment.” “I don’t understand why they don’t want to pay the premium, especially as this is a moral obligation. This can have a drastic impact on our lives.”

Timesport contacted several teams and the response from one was: “It is not that we don’t want to provide insurance coverage but we have allocated the money that was given by FAM for the payment of salaries. “We are trying to raise money to pay the insurance premium and we should be able to do so by next week,” said the official. While the world is grappling with economic woes, this is an excuse that cannot be accepted as FAM, when deciding to not deduct the premium from the grant, did it in good faith. But, then again, it should have known that this will happen for its generosity has been taken advantage of so many times before.