KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Football League (MFL) is confident with starting the new season in February 2021 as planned and it believes the numbers of the Covid-19 cases will reduce to double-digits by December or January.
MFL today announced the dates for the Malaysian League calendar for the 2021 season. MFL Chief Executive Officer Datuk ‘Ab Ghani Hassan hopes that by end of the year, the situation would be better and football in Malaysia can continue as usual.
However, he said that MFL is ready if the COVID-19 situation worsens and if the government continues to implement the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) when the League starts in February.
“We are not taking anything for granted and have considered every possibility. We have our plan B and C if the CMCO continues. By January we will know what to do.
“For now, we cannot reveal our backup plans. We will monitor the situation and decide accordingly,” Ghani told The Vibes when contacted.
The Malaysia League 2021 calendar will start with the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup match which finds the CIMB Super League champions, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and runners-up, Kedah on February 26, 2021.
The MFL Board of Directors in its 23rd meeting recently decided that Kedah would fill the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup slot as the CIMB Super League runner-up status is left empty after the lack of FA Cup and TM Malaysia Cup winners, where both tournaments had to be cancelled following the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Ghani, domestic matches such as CIMB Super League and Premier League start on February 27 and 28, 2021 and will end on August 20 and 21, 2021.
He added that the FA Cup tournament will take place on March 2 and 3, 2021 until the final action on September 11, 2021 while TM Malaysia Cup starts on September 17 and 18, 2021 until November 27, 2021.
While the Challenge Cup tournament will take place on September 3 and 4, 2021 until the first final on November 6 or 7, 2021 followed by the second final on November 13 or 14, 2021.
"To prepare the team for the 2021 season, the MFL has set the first registration period, the team can register players from November 21, 2020 until February 14, 2021 where they have a period of up to 12 weeks. "For the second registration period, the team can do the same from July 12, 2021 to August 8, 2021 where a period of four weeks of time has been allocated," he said.
Meanwhile, Ghani confirmed that MFL are currently in negotiations with the sponsors for the new season and did not rule out the fact if amendments will be made for the sponsors in the new season.
“There could be some changes but at the moment, all our sponsors are very supportive and understand the state we are in. They are positive. I hope that all MFL planning for the 2021 season will go smoothly and together pray that the COVID-19 situation in the country will improve,” he concluded. – The Vibes, November 17, 2020.
