KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — All Super League and Premier League teams are allowed to hold friendly matches among themselves behind closed doors from today, said Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan.
He said these warm-up matches would be useful for the Super League and Premier League teams as they gear up for the Aug 26 resumption of the Malaysia League (M-League), which has been suspended since March 16 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After contact training was allowed from July 15-28, all the teams underwent MFL assessment until yesterday to ensure there was no infection among the players and officials.
“The Super League and Premier League teams can have friendlies among themselves, provided their officials and players have undergone swab tests and confirmed to be free from the virus and have obtained approval from MFL. The teams can also have friendlies with sides they have played against before the M-League was suspended,” he said.
And the first friendly is set to between Super League side Selangor and Premier League outfit Penang at the SUK Field in Shah Alam on Wednesday (Aug 5).
Ab Ghani also said that matches could only be held in stadiums or match venues which have been registered with Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
“These stadiums must undergo disinfection processes before the matches are held. Only registered team officials and players who have undergone swab tests will be allowed into the stadium or match venues. The matches must be played without fans,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the MFL would continue to monitor the Kuching FA’s situation after five of its players were found to be Covid-19 positive from the Sentosa cluster.
“For now, all five tested negative when they were screened in the hospital a few days ago and they have been transferred to the Youth and Sports Complex in Kuching, Sarawak. The hospital authorities will monitor them there, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.
“As for the other players, they all tested negative in the first screening. The second screening will be conducted on Thursday (Aug 6) and all the team’s officials and players will end their quarantine on Aug 7,” he said.
He reminded all the teams to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by MFL when they are playing and the guidelines set by the Ministry of Health (MOH) when they are away from competition venues so as to break the chain of Covid-19 infection. — Bernama
