KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 – With the daily Covid-19 positive cases hovering around more than 4,000 cases per day, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) has decided to postpone the Premier League matches indefinitely on the instructions of the Youth and Sports Ministry.
MFL chief executive officer Dato’ Ab Ghani Hassan, in a circular to the M-League teams said the new fixtures will be announced at a later date.
Also postponed to a later date are the two postponed first-round matches – Perak 2 versus Kelantan FC and the Selangor 2 versus Sarawak United – which was rescheduled for June 29 and June 30 respectively.
The M-League took a break in mid-May for the national team to compete in an international tournament – the World Cup 2022/Asia Cup 2023 qualifiers in Group G (second-round matches in Dubai) with 13 matches completed in the Super League and the Premier League.
In an earlier release, the Premier League matches were scheduled to begin on July 3 and the Super League was scheduled to resume on July 24.
The national players are still undergoing quarantine in a hotel in Petaling Jaya on their return from Dubai while those from JDT are playing in the AFC Champions League in Bangkok.
”MFL will keep the teams informed on the new fixtures but much will depend on the announcements and green light for clearance by the National Security Council (NSC) on the pandemic situation in the country,” said Ab Ghani.
Meanwhile, according to Ab Ghani, the teams are allowed to continue with Quarantine Camp-based Training) and training matches are allowed under strict SOPs behind closed doors.
Sarawak United FC had officially requested their postponed first-round match against Selangor 2 (June 30) to be played at a later date.
The match at the Selayang Stadium on April 7 was postponed because of bad weather.
Head coach E. Elavarasan said with the latest developments his team will have a longer time to train.
Sarawak United’s national player Norshahrul Idlan Talaha is still under quarantine after returning from Dubai on April 17.
Sarawak United is currently perched on the top of the league with 23 points from 10 matches and has a match in hand over second-placed Negeri Sembilan on 22 points.
Elavarasan is aware that it ”will be much tougher” in the coming matches as many teams have beefed up their squad during the recent second transfer window.
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