Fazzrudin (second right) with Kuching City’s new import players (from left) Jovanovic, Dos Santos and Kuziev.
KUCHING (Jan 6): Having three new import players would reinforce the Kuching City FC squad in facing the 2023 Super League, scheduled to kick off this Feb 24.
Mihailo Jovanovic from Serbia, Celio Ferrera Dos Santos from Brazil and Sorijiddin Kuziev from Uzbekistan signed their contracts on Thursday, witnessed by club chairman Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman.
“We are confident that with the addition of these new players, we should be able to further strengthen Kuching City in the 2023 Super League,” said Fazzrudin, who is Tupong assemblyman, in a press conference called after the signing ceremony.
Moreover, he said the club would receive two more import players, one of whom is from ‘a national footballer of a country in Southeast Asia’.
“They will arrive in a few days’ time.”
It is informed that Jovanovic and Dos Santos would play defence, while Kuziev is a midfielder.
The trio, and the incoming two, mean that Kuching City’s line-up for this season has seven import players.
Abu Kamara of Liberia and Yuki Tanigawa of Japan, who were signed up last season, still have the trust of club manager Irfan Bakti.
Meanwhile, Fazzrudin said Kuching City would not be setting any early targets for the league.
“We want to pose stiff competition to all the teams, and we don’t want other teams to regard us as a team ‘only out to collect points’.
“That’s our main objective. (For now), we have not yet set any target; maybe after a series of pre-season training and matches,” he added.
Fazzrudin also spoke about the club’s plan to tour three locations in Sarawak, namely Betong, Sibu and Mukah, to introduce the new team to the local supporters.
“The dates have not yet been decided by the management yet, but it (tour) is likely to be held at the end of January,” he said, also pointing out that the pre-season tour would be determined after the players had fully prepared, especially from the aspect of compatibility.