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| IN … Hendrik Helmke |
“There are one or two minor things that need to be sorted out. Once everything is done, we will fly him to join the rest of the squad for the Perak game,” the FA’s Secretary General Alijus Hj Sipil said when contacted yesterday.
“We have already registered him with the FA of Malaysia, and now we are only waiting for the clearance. At the same time, we also need to wait for his ITC (International Transfer Certificate), and we hope to get it ahead of the Perak’s clash,” Alijus added.
He also said that they have already deregistered Baird from the squad list to pave the way for Hendrik, who last played for a club in Finland. Alijus also explained the reason why they decided to part ways with Baird. “He is a good player, and if not for his injury, I don’t think we will make this decision. We have already spoken to him, and he understands our situation.
“This is not an easy decision, but since he could not assure us how soon he could return to action, we have decided to get a new man. “Both parties have agreed to end the contract on mutual consent,” said Alijus while wishing Baird a rapid recovery on his injured knee.
Alijus also revealed that they also discussed on another Aussie import in Brendan Gan, but has decided to stick to him. “We have not received a full report on him (injury), so it is unfair to him for us to make a decision. We hope he will be okay in the next three weeks or so and help the team.
Midfielder Gan is currently recuperating after undergoing appendix operation recently. He is expected to be out for at least three weeks. Hopefully he will be back playing in a month’s time and prove his worthiness to the State squad.”
Apart from signing Hendrik, the FA has also added the much-travelled former State player Sanjos Sundawat into its 25-man Super League squad. “As we all know, we have so many casualties in the squad, and with him, he could help ease the team’s problem.
Furthermore, he is an experience player,” said Alijus of Sanjos, who formerly played for Sarawak, Police and Selangor to name a few. Meanwhile, chief coach Justin Ganai welcomes Ronnie Harun – pending on Helmke’s ITC – as the only addition to his squad when taking on Perak at the State Stadium in Ipoh tonight.
Ronnie, a defender, missed the 1-3 defeat to Perak at the Likas Stadium last Saturday and his return from suspension will boost the State’s backline. Sabah is desperate to get the points to improve on the 10th position in the 14-team Super League.
The Sabahawks concluded the first round fixtures on 15 points after winning only three times, drawing six and four defeats from 13 matches.
Sabah squad for tonight are Syed Adney Syed Hussin, Irwan Jamil, Mohd Reithuddin Emran, Ronnie Harun, Mafry Balang, Sumardi Hajalan, Radzi Hussein, Zuraindey Jumai, Rozaimi Abd Rahman, K. Thanaraj, Mohd Saffuan, Jufrey Omopor, Dendy Lowa, Mohd Fariss Azlan Mat Isa, Shahrul Azhar Ture, Shahrudin Yakup, Bobby Gonzales and Zainizam Marjan.
