KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican is happy with the level of compliance of the standard operating procedure (SOP) by all Malaysia League (M-League) teams since Phase 1 of team training sessions began on June 15.
He said that based on reports from the ministry’s branches at state and district levels, all teams showed great commitment towards the stipulated SOP.
He said the good cooperation of all the teams thus far had brightened the chances of contact training sessions being allowed, although a decision on that would be made at the Special Ministerial Meeting on the Implementation of the recovery movement control order (RMCO) tomorrow (July 9).
“I feel that we have reached a level where most of the teams are fed up and mentally challenged to continue non-contact training and they want more.
“Players want to reach an optimum level during training and that is why I will bring the matter up at the Special Ministerial Meeting so that contact training will be permitted,” he said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) today.
Apart from the proposal to open up the footballing sector to include full contact training, the ministry would also suggest to the meeting tomorrow for sports tournaments to be allowed to be held in stages.
As for fans being allowed into stadiums to watch matches, Reezal Merican said the matter still needed to be studied in detail.
“Let’s take it one step at a time. After all, even in the English Premier League and Bundesliga (German League), matches are also held behind closed doors,” he explained.
Earlier, Reezal Merican and Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and MFL president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin watched the Under-18 squad train under coach Brad Maloney at Wisma FAM.
The squad is preparing for the final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from Oct 14-31.
The M-League was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to resume in September. — Bernama
