PETALING JAYA, Jan 13 – COVID-19 has once again wreaked havoc on sports and football is no exception – the number one sport in the country.
It looks like the much-loved sport is headed for another gloomy outlook but all is not lost.
After being hit again on Monday when Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that six states – Penang, Selangor, Federal Territories (Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan), Melaka, Johor and Sabah – will be placed under Movement Control Order (MCO) from Jan 13 to Jan 26.
Six other states (Kedah, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan) have been placed under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) while Perlis and Sarawak came under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).
Any extension of the MCOs after Jan 26 will be a big blow to all teams as the Malaysian Football League for the 2021 season has been drawn up.
The latest move by the government has certainly thrown a spanner in the preparations of the teams.
This year’s MFL season is set to kickoff on Feb 26 with Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) and Kedah playing for the Charity Shield in the curtain raiser. The match will also count towards the league points.
MFL Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan, however, stressed that for now no changes will be made to the MFL calendar.
However, in the same breath he was quick to point that ”alternative plans are in place” should the need arise. ”We will wait and see what happens next.”With that comes a plea that a lot depends on the football fans and the people of Malaysia who need to play their part to play their role to curb the pandemic by strictly following the standard operating procedure (SOP) bring down the current positive cases that have been running into four figures daily of late.
”We need the cooperation of all to help the authorities contain the pandemic.”
”If the MCO is not extended after Jan 26 there is enough time for the teams for their pre-season training,” added Ghani.
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