Sarawak Premier League aiming to reach across the state

KUCHING (Feb 11): The Sarawak Premier League is poised to play a key role in developing football talent across rural and non-urban areas of the state, said Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) president Dato Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman.

The newly introduced competition aims to ensure that football development reaches every division in Sarawak rather than being concentrated only in major towns.

Fazzrudin, who is also Chief Political Secretary to the Sarawak Premier and Tupong assemblyman, said the league represents a starting point to revive the glory of Sarawak football while nurturing grassroots players.

“The most important thing is that we want all divisions and players from every area to be given opportunities.

“This league ensures football development is not limited to big cities such as Kuching, Sibu or Miri, but also reaches rural and smaller districts,” he added during a press conference to announce the Sarawak Premier League 2025 Final at his Tupong Assemblyman Service Centre on Tuesday.

He explained that the inaugural 2025 edition, which began in September last year, was divided into two zones namely Zone A comprising Kuching, Samarahan, Serian, Sri Aman, Betong and Sarikei, and Zone B involving Sibu, Mukah, Kapit, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang.

The zonal format was introduced to reduce travelling costs for teams while still maintaining competitive balance.

In addition, he said FAS provided incentives and subsidies to teams represented by their respective divisional football associations, with the top four teams from each zone advancing to compete for the Sarawak Premier Cup.

Strict eligibility requirements were imposed, including a rule that players must represent their original divisions.

“Initially, this may benefit larger divisions with more players, but in the long term it encourages every area to train and produce their own talents.

“Eventually, every division will have its own pool of players to showcase in the league,” he said.

FAS envisions the league evolving into a talent production platform capable of attracting scouts from Malaysia and across Southeast Asia in the future.

The league has already begun attracting attention from professional teams, with the head coach of Kuching City FC reportedly identifying at least two potential players from Bintulu during recent matches.

Meanwhile, Fazzrudin acknowledged several areas requiring improvement as the league progresses, including upgrading field conditions affected by heavy rain, enhancing referee competency through refresher courses, and improving organisational aspects to meet higher standards.

“We want to improve from year to year so that one day our standard will be comparable with higher-level competitions. This is only our first step,” he said.

FAS plans to start the 2026 season earlier to avoid extending the competition too far into the following year.

The Sarawak Premier Cup 2025 Final will be played on Feb 15 (Sunday) at 3pm with the champion set to receive RM50,000 and the runner-up RM30,000.

Football fans are encouraged to attend the final which will feature lucky draw prizes accessible through QR codes at the stadium. The match will also be broadcast live on TVS.