PETALING JAYA − Local football fans will still not be allowed to eat and drink in stadiums in the new Malaysian League (M-League) season, which starts with the Charity Cup on February 26.
Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam stated that a request to allow supporters to bring in food and drinks was one of three considerations mulled by the local league’s managing body but was rejected by the government for the new M-League season.
He said the second involved permission for players confirmed negative for Covid-19 but were close contacts of Covid-19 positive players to continue playing, as compared to having to undergo a quarantine period currently.
“We used international regulations for the second consideration... we had experienced this at the 2022 AFF Cup recently whereby two players shared a room but the player who was negative could play while the positive one was quarantined in a room.
“We did not create the regulation ourselves but it has been implemented at the international level. However, this was denied by the government as their rules are different,” he told reporters after a signing ceremony for a partnership agreement with new M-League sponsor, Luno, a local digital asset company.
In addition, Stuart said MFL also proposed that the entry quota for supporters be increased but on the condition that the other two requests were first approved by the government.
MFL last October had announced that 50% of the capacity or a maximum 20,000 spectators in states under Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) would be allowed in stadiums.
However, he said MFL understood they had to be cautious due to the drastic hike of Covid-19 cases lately and thus accepted all the directives issued by the authorities.
Stuart said this was because − as a partner of the government − they were responsible for ensuring that the safety of all parties was assured, especially in curbing the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, he said the one-year cooperation agreement with Luno with a sponsorship value of RM1 million encompassed various branding rights, including advertising boards at the sides of pitches, use of club logo and players’ images and promoting the brand at stadiums.
In the meantime, Luno Malaysia country manager Aaron Tang regarded the partnership as able to create opportunities for football supporters to explore the world of cryptocurrency. – Bernama, February 16, 2022
