PETALING JAYA: Kelantan Red Warriors head coach Irfan Bakti Abdul Salim has assured that it is business as usual for the team, despite being investigated by FIFA.
Irfan remains optimistic that the club’s management will resolve the ongoing issue, which would allow them to proceed with their plans to compete in the A1 semi-pro league, originally scheduled to begin tomorrow.
However, due to the investigation, their matches against Selangor II on Aug 4 and Seoul Phoenix of South Korea on Aug 10 have been postponed.
“I’m confident the management are working hard to resolve this with FAM (Football Association of Malaysia), AFL (Amateur Football League), and all relevant parties.
“They’ve already responded to FIFA regarding the issue. We’re continuing training as usual, although many of the players are still uncertain about their status with FIFA,” said Irfan.
The club recently played a pre-season friendly, defeating Terengganu 6-0 at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu on Tuesday.
The team are now anxiously awaiting FIFA’s official decision, expected on Aug 14, over the identity dispute involving Kelantan.
The case stems from allegations that the Red Warriors are simply a rebranded version of Kelantan, who still have outstanding salary arrears owed to former players and officials.
However, the Red Warriors have maintained that they are a newly established team, formed in December last year, and have confirmed that they submitted their official explanation to FIFA last Saturday.
