Malaysian second tier club Negeri Sembilan FA have taken the radical option of sacking the entire playing staff after they failed to secure promotion to the Malaysia Super League.
The club invested heavily during the off-season as they looked to secure a return to the MSL, but according to club president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassa, the players resorted to faking injury.
Now, after finishing sixth in the Premier League, the club has taken the drastic step of firing the coach and the playing staff.
“Our goal was to get promoted back into the Super League, but we failed to do so, despite paying these players lavishly,” Negeri Sembilan FA’s Mohamad Hassa told Harian Metro.
“We spent up to RM9 million on player salaries this season, but their performance was sub-par. I’m incredibly disappointed with our achievement.
“So to ease my heartache, I’ve sacked the entire squad and we’ll be looking for new players as well as a new head coach for the 2016 Premier League campaign.
“Maybe we’ll mainly use local youngsters, and strengthen them with several experienced foreign players,” he added.
Now, to avoid any future slacking among the workforce, the players will be incentivised by a pay-as-you -play reward scheme.
“For example, each time the team win, they will be rewarded RM50,000 (S$16,500) to be distributed among the players. So to make more (money), they must win,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama News. “I believe this is a better system. If the (base) salaries are very high, the players no longer have the hunger to play.
“In fact, sometimes they purposely get injured because they want to enjoy the salary but are not willing to produce (on the field).
“With this new system, those who play full time will reap the full bonuses, those not will receive proportionate bonuses while those benched will get nothing.”
