Government not responsible for FAM's debts: Mahloof
He said the FAM was created to be responsible for its own debt and the ministry should not be held responsible for it.
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By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Youth minister Ahmed Mahloof said on Monday that the government will not be liable for the debts incurred by the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) and that discussions are underway to take action against the association.
FAM has been facing a lot of financial crunches and the national team officials have not been paid their salaries for months. There are also hurdles in paying monthly salaries to FAM employees.
Recently, there have been instances of non-payment of dues related to FAM:
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Power cut in FAM over the non payment of MVR 6.5 million in utility bills to STELCO
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Not paying the players their prize money
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MVR 2.9 million owed to former U-23 national football team coach Rene Hiddink from Netherlands
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Civil Court directs FAM to pay MVR 1.7 million in unpaid service bills to ADK Hospital
Responding to a question from a lawmaker on the issue, Mahloof said the ministry has no hold over the raising debts of FAM, and that there are no monetary transactions pending between them. He said the FAM was created to be responsible for its own debt and the ministry should not be held responsible for it.
"National associations have been created where they are responsible for their own debts. Therefore, the youth ministry has no responsibility towards any of these debts," Mahloof said.
He said he had received information that the case would be resolved soon and that the government was discussing the steps to be taken.
