A Turtle in the soup – Terengganu to take action against coach Nafuzi

PETALING JAYA: It looks like Terengganu coach Nafuzi Zain’s relationship with the team management has reached a breaking point - and it may lead to his departure for good.

The east coast club revealed that they would be taking action against the 43-year-old for criticising the management for being unprofessional in the way they offered him his contract extension letter.

Nafuzi had received his letter through a kitman during training on Sunday, without any prior discussion with the management.

The club’s chief executive officer Ab Rasid Jusoh said they were shocked by what Nafuzi had said and how he dealt with the situation.

“What Nafuzi did was shocking. He openly made media statements criticising the management, and this has somewhat damaged the relationship between the two parties,” said Rasid.

He added that the team management had complied with the terms of Nafuzi’s contract by offering him an extension 30 days before it expired.

‘’We had already sent a contract extension offer letter dated Oct 27 before the end of Nafuzi’s contract on Nov 30. The coach must then state to the club whether to accept or reject the offer, or set a consultation date over the terms, within 14 days.

‘’However, during that period, the management did not receive any feedback from the coach until he issued a statement to the media.”

Rasid also claimed that Nafuzi had discussions with another Super League club and even signed an agreement with them in August.

“The management felt aggrieved when they were accused of being unprofessional. Nafuzi stated that we were slow to offer him an extension but we discovered that he had negotiated and signed an agreement with another team in August!

“This is a violation of the contract’s terms and conditions, where an official cannot sign an agreement with any team as long as the contract is still binding.

“Nafuzi’s unprofessional actions and accusations have tarnished the image of the club. We will take action against him.”

“The management initially acted to remain silent on the basis that they did not want the team’s focus to be disturbed but saw that this matter continued to drag on when Nafuzi continued to make media statements that could damage the image of the club.”

Rasid even shared details of Nafuzi’s contract, referring to Article Nine and two clauses in it.

“Based on the issue of late offering a professional contract to the head coach, referring to Article 9: Contract extension, under section 9.1, in which the club must, within 30 days before the end of this contract, inform the officials to extend the contract.

“In section 9.3 states that the coach must state to the club whether to accept or reject or set a consultation date contract terms within 14 days.

“The employer has complied with the terms of this contract by offering a contract to the officer within the period specified in point nine. This point answers the question of accusing the management of delaying the offer of a contract extension to the officer.

“However, during that period, the management did not receive any feedback from the officer until he issued a statement publicly to the media.”