Kelantan's 1-0 loss to Kedah not due to unpaid salary

Kelantan's loss to Kedah in the Super League competition at the Sultan Muhammad 1V Stadium last night was not due to unpaid salaries.

Defender Nor Hafiz Zamani Misbah said it was due to the mistakes of the players and not related to the salary issue.

"I don't want to say anything about the salary problem, let the management deal with it. As players, we must focus on every match and act professionally," he said when met by reporters last night.

Yesterday, newspapers reported that the Kelantan players had not been paid their salaries for the past three months from November to January.

Kedah beat Kelantan 1-0 through team captain Baddrol Bakhtiar's penalty kick in the 81st minute to give the Red Eagle squad three valuable points.

Meanwhile, Kelantan chief coach, Zahasmi Ismail said not fielding two imported strikers affected the early plannings of the team.

"Imported striker Mohammed Ghaddar could not be fielded due to injuries while striker Alessandro Padovani Celin had to leave the pitch in the 28th minute due to injuries.

"I was forced to field a young local player, Muhammad Danial Ashraf Abdullah despite his lack of experience," he added. -- Bernama