Timorese footballers have complained about the lack of support given to them by the Football Federation of Timor-Leste (FFTL).
Members of the Timorese footballers were sent to play in Myanmar without proper uniforms or boots.
The players were forced to make their own uniforms by sticking numbers onto the backs of shirts.
Amanta Football Timor-Leste deputy president Domingos Belo Ximenes said the numbers came off their makeshift jerseys during play.
He said no other international footballers were forced endure such conditions.
No accommodation was provided for the team in Myanmar, leaving them to sleep at the airport.
Ximenes called for changes to FFTL’s structure as the federation was dysfunctional and ignored the needs of its players.
He also appealed to the National Parliament to hold an audit of FTTL’s financial management practices.
Former Timorese international Miro Valdo Pinto called on the State and Government to create good conditions for Timorese footballers, many of whom have families to support.
“We see our players representing our country overseas but when they return, they are given so little acknowledgement that they don’t continue with football but start drinking,” he said.
He said this was not the fault of the players, but of FFTL for ignoring its duty of care to its international representatives.
“If the players are well paid they would not drink so much wine,” he said.
He also called on the government to establish a players’ boardinghouse so they could concentrate on their training.
Amante Football president Jose Carvalho said the image of Timor-Leste was in the hands of the players, not FIFA.
“We Timorese have the right to know what’s going on and have a duty to fix whatever has gone wrong so far,” he said.
Carvalho said the situation could have repercussions for Timor-Leste’s status as a member nation of FIFA.
In order to be a FIFA member nation, countries must fulfill criteria relating to facilities and competition.
“We made the effort to become a member of FIFA but we now don’t have the right facilities or competition,” he said.
