No surprise as M-League postponed, FA Cup scrapped

Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan

PETALING JAYA: The M-League has again fallen victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) announced yesterday that the Super and Premier Leagues will be postponed from Feb 26 to March 5 while the FA Cup has been scrapped again this year.

It came as no surprise after the Government extended the movement control order until Feb 4. The season was scheduled to kick off on Feb 26, which left teams with only a few weeks to train.

Last year, the pandemic saw the competitions postponed until the end of August, while some M-League matches including the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup were cancelled.

MFL chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan said they are ready to provide more rigorous standard operating procedures for training sessions and even quarantine centralised training camps to ensure that the Malaysian League goes on.

“During the board members special meeting, after taking into account the views of each team’s representative, we have reached an agreement to amend the kick-off date of the Malaysia League to March 5, ” he said.

“Apart from the requests of our league partners who want to prepare at least three weeks before the start of the season, MFL also took into account the qualifying rounds of the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup, the Asian Champions League tournament involving Johor Darul Ta’zim and the AFC Cup which will see Kedah and Terengganu participating.

“What is certain is that MFL have collaborated with the National Sports Council on the preparation of training SOPs and we will once again present these proposals to the relevant authorities to ensure that the season runs free from any Covid-19 threats.”

Ab Ghani added that the FA Cup will not be held because he does not want teams to be burdened by a tight schedule.