Are we ready for recession?
Qatar World Cup has provided interesting and exciting days for us, on par with the recent Malaysia Cup Final and the upcoming Malaysia National matches. What is more interesting is the number of sponsors who fund the event, the brands/services/products agree to jump on the bandwagon. Football has long been known as the people’s sport, or as the popular saying goes ‘football unites people’.
No money no power might be a favorite line in politics, but there is football politics and economics too! Can football survive without good finance and policy?
Football clubs need to think ahead, to think as a whole and so do the football fans. Supporters are the drivers of the club, without supporters football is of no value. Today, everything is about the data of engagement and reach to a wider audience. A jersey sale for example can play an important role for club’s income. Nowadays, we see so many clubs coming up with creative designs and it has become more like a jersey competition. But the real question is: will the fans still be able to purchase the jerseys when recession hits bad?
Salary cap is not the norm yet in Malaysia. The recent pandemic Covid-19 hit us hard, and our clubs were badly affected. But moving forward, are we ready for a proper realistic, systematic, professional financial club planning with salary cap and clauses in the contract for our clubs so that if catastrophes happen, we are still able to manage the clubs? It is high time for players and staff to be protected in the event of a recession or other calamities.
I am not perfectionist in club management, but as a fan of Malaysian football, what I can’t stop thinking about is: are we ready for recession.
RinggitPlus Survey Finds That Malaysians Are On The Brink Of Financial Disaster.
How are we planning to face recession? Are the club owners ready to put aside their ego and pride to be realistic? Are our players exposed to financial management? The recent first-ever European Club Association (ECA) Financial Sustainability workshop adds more to my concern. If they give such prominence to it, shouldn’t we have our own workshops too?
There are just too many questions on mind that I feel we should have an open discussion together and explore ideas so that football will stay to keep us entertained. So that we will still be able to contribute to our favorite team.
This article was written by Mutiara Bahir.
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Thank you and take care brothers and sisters.