KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Football League (MFL) hopes the National Security Council (NSC) will give the green light for fans to return to the stadium for the TM Malaysia Cup 2021, which kicks off on September 25.
MFL president Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan said he is expecting some good news in the next few days as the improved working papers with several new conditions have been submitted to the NSC.
If approved, they would pave the way for probably the largest sanctioned gatherings of people in the country since the movement control order was imposed in March last year.
“I hope the NSC will allow fans back to the stadium because it will be good for the clubs participating in the Malaysia Cup.
“Since the NSC has allowed outdoor and indoor sporting activities to reopen, I believe it is the right time to allow the fans back to the stadium.
“It will be good for the teams too as there will be some income for them from ticket sales,” he told The Vibes.
Ghani emphasised that only fully vaccinated fans will be allowed into the stadium.
“We have prepared strict SOPs for the fans if the NSC allows them back to the stadium.
He said he hoped the NSC can make an announcement on the matter by the end of this week, ahead of Malaysia Cup.
At the same time, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein during a press conference yesterday, confirmed that this matter will be on the agenda for discussion when the Special Committee on pandemic management meets today.
Earlier, the MFL appealed to the NSC to allow fans, who have completed both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine jabs, to attend M-League matches in stadiums.
According to MFL, the relaxation on fully vaccinated individuals should be extended to football fans to enable them to go to the stadiums to watch the matches.
MFL also hoped that the percentage of fans allowed into stadiums could be increased compared to the highest number given previously, which was 25 per cent capacity, or 8,000 spectators.
In mid-March, the NSC agreed to allow fans to attend matches at stadiums or venues for sports events, like the M-League, effective April 1, almost a year after M-League games were played in empty stadiums following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, and the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras, which were selected as pilot projects to evaluate the effectiveness of the spectator management protocol, became the two earliest venues to re-admit fans on April 2 and 3.
The NSC later allowed the MFL to open the gates for fans to attend all M-League matches beginning April 6 before the ‘privileges’ were stopped following an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases nationwide.
Yesterday, new Covid-19 cases jumped back up slightly to 15,759 while the number of daily new deaths remained alarming with 301 fatalities.
To date, Malaysia has recorded a total of 2,127,934 Covid-19 cases. – The Vibes, September 22, 2021
