KUALA LUMPUR − The Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) hopes to host the third-round qualifiers of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Hasrat scheduled this June will require the ‘blessing’ of the government for it to happen.
According to FAM deputy president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi, Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), including quarantining individuals entering the country, has turned out to be a matter of concern for the AFC.
“We (FAM) are trying to be the hosts but I have some information that the SOP and quarantine will be a bit of a setback to our bid. There is some concern within the AFC that the government will not allow the qualifiers to take place if there is a sudden rise in cases.
“If we have a guarantee (from the government) that the qualifiers will still go on, we feel we have a good chance of holding the qualifiers in Malaysia this year,” he told reporters recently.
Yusoff said FAM had no problems with the cost of organising the qualifiers but a government guarantee was imperative to realise the association’s hopes of seeing the Harimau Malaya squad playing on home ground.
He added that the Bukit Jalil National Stadium would be the main venue while other venues would be discussed at a later date.
For the third-round qualifiers, 24 teams will be drawn into six groups with only the best 11 teams joining the other 13 teams that have qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup, which is scheduled to take place in China next year from June 16 to July 16. – Bernama, January 17, 2022
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