KUALA LUMPUR – Indonesian football club PSM Makassar’s head coach Bernardo Tavares is frustrated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for changing the upcoming AFC Cup schedule without giving a valid reason.
PSM Makassar will take on Kuala Lumpur City FC (KL City) in their first Group H match tomorrow at Kuala Lumpur Stadium.
Bernardo said the schedule for his team was altered but AFC did not provide them with a reason.
“In April, the schedule stated that we play on June 24 and 30. But something happened in May, and it was changed. Now we play on June 24 and 27 and no reason was given to us.
“It is a big coincidence that Kuala Lumpur is AFC’s home. These things should not be happening because it does not paint a good picture,” he said at the pre-match press conference today at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium.
Bernardo said that his team had a President’s Cup match to play on June 19, which left the team having to depart to Malaysia the same night, hampering efficient recovery.
The total flight time from Makassar in Sulawesi Island to Kuala Lumpur is three hours and ten minutes.
“After the President’s Cup match, we travelled at night so that we could be here quickly, giving us more time to prepare.
“The players did not get to sleep, they had to have their cryotherapy and injury prevention treatments. They are already tired because they travelled under conditions that were not ideal,” said the Portuguese coach.
He also questioned why KL City have six days of rest in between their matches when they are the home team.
“The KL team does not need to travel from either Singapore or Indonesia. So, I do not understand why they get six days between matches when the team that travels here only has three days.”
Group H consists of KL City, PSM Makassar and Tampines Rovers from Singapore.
This is not the first time AFC has been put under the spotlight this year. During the Asian Cup Qualifiers at Bukit Jalil National Stadium earlier this month, Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa criticised the football body for lack of adequate support following visibly poor field conditions at the venue, even after being advised to postpone the kick-off.
Meanwhile, KL City head coach Bojan Hodak said the two other teams in the group have an advantage as they have experience playing in the AFC Cup.
“They play in the AFC Cup every year, so they are used to playing at a higher level.
“But our advantage would be that we are playing at home. So, we hope that the KL City fans turn up to cheer on their team playing in a bigger competition,” he said.
He added that PSM Makassar’s fans tend to follow them for competitions, as he used to coach the club before taking on the role at KL City.
At the same time, authorities have reminded eager fans that security at the stadium will be amped up to ensure that any unwanted situations are avoided.
For tomorrow’s match, they said that traffic control around the venue will begin at 5pm. – The Vibes, June 23, 2022
AFC Cup
Group H fixtures
June 24, 2022
KL City v PSM Makassar – 8pm
June 27, 2022
PSM Makassar v Tampines Rovers – 8pm
June 30, 2022
KL City v Tampines Rovers – 8pm
(All matches to be played in Kuala Lumpur Stadium)
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