KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) will submit an appeal to the National Security Council (MKN) for the Malaysia Cup competition, which had been postponed earlier, to be allowed to continue so that the seven remaining matches can be completed.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, however, said the appeal would only be submitted if there was a drop in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The government had earlier announced that the conditional movement control order (CMCO) would be implemented throughout all states in the peninsula, except for Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan, effective for four weeks from Nov 9 until Dec 6.
“Personally, as the Youth and Sports Minister, I am hoping that the seven matches can go ahead in states whch are considered green zones.
“Yet, we must comply with the MKN (directives) and realise that the health and safety of the people is far more important. Apart from that, we must also look at the readiness of the two states (Kelantan and Pahang) to give their permission,” Reezal Merican said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in reply to a supplementary question by Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (PAS-Bachok), who asked for an explanation on the local football teams’ current level of capability in facing the pandemic.
The seven remaining matches in the Malaysia Cup are the four quarter-finals, which are scheduled to be held on Nov 12-13, followed by the two semi-finals (Nov 17) and the final on Nov 22. The first round matches wre held from Nov 6-8.
The quarter-final match-ups are set to see defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) facing Kuala Lumpur, Penang taking on UiTM FC, Terengganu FC taking on Perak and Kedah meeting 33-time champions Selangor.
On Monday, Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the MKN had decided to postpone the Malaysia Cup competition to a later date.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) appealed to the MKN to reconsider its decision to postpone the competition.
MLF chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan said they had made plans to proceed with the competition in non-CMCO states and had also applied to use the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu and Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. — Bernama
