- Clubs faced with conditions
- Decision to be finalised after discussion with clubs
- Companies yet to be named
One of the key pledges by the new President of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) Bassam Adeel Jaleel was providing a sum of MVR3 million to the eight clubs in the First Division of Maldivian football.
The question on everyone's mind with the announcement was from where such a large amount would generated.
"We have decided to provide the money through government companies. An agreement will be signed between the clubs and companies next month in a special ceremony," Bassam told 'Avas'.
Bassam announced that four more companies will come into the fold with the start of the Dhivehi Premier League.
"With the arrival of the four clubs from the islands, four more companies will join the agreement making the amount of total companies to 12," said Bassam.
The money given out by the companies will not enter the FAM budget, but the clubs in the second division and the top five clubs in the third division will be receiving money directly from FAM.
"The clubs will have the choice of having a sponsor of their choosing on their jerseys. There will however, be certain stipulations that the clubs must follow after receiving this money, such as spending a certain amount on marketing the club. If the required amount is not spent on marketing, the club will receive a lesser amount the following year," Bassam said.
The stipulations for the clubs
According to Bassam, there will be around 10 conditions faced by the clubs to be eligible for the funds.
- Clubs must submit financial reports twice a year to FAM
- Activities must be held to market the clubs
- Activities must be arranged to attract supporters to the stadium
- Each club must form a youth team
- Each club must form a women's team
- The board and management of the clubs must improve
- Clubs must have a management plan
FAM will hold discussions with clubs regarding these conditions and could chose to remove some conditions based on the outcome of the sit-downs.
