Maldives Football: Win Trophy and Lose Salary of $389?

In South Asia, cricket is the most popular game and football (soccer) is in a distant second position. Well, in Maldives, it is only football and football. The people of this country have little interest about cricket. In fact, Maldives lifted the trophy of South Asian Football Federation championship in 2008. This made everyone very happy in the country except some government officials. So, they felt that the players should get some kind of punishment. Well, I am perhaps being ironic here but it has really happened.

The players of the national team just get $389 of salary each month. For the last few months, they have not received any money from Football Association of Maldives (FAM). In fact, it is now 5 months that they did not get their salary. Football Association of Maldives (FAM) is blaming Ministry of Youth and Sports for this problem. There has been no official word from Ministry of Youth and Sports about it.

I am really deeply shocked and it shows that football in the country is not run professionally. I feel sympathy for the players. Their salary is very small in the first place. I just hope that the government of the country look into this matter very seriously without any delay.