KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — The Malaysian Football League (MFL) today issues the 2021 Malaysia League (M-League) official competition schedule set to kick off with the Charity Cup match on March 5.
The game, to wrest the Sultan Ahmad Shah Cup, would pit the 2020 Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and runners-up Kedah Darul Aman FC (KDA FC) at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
It would be the fourth meeting of the two teams in five previous Charity Cup editions since the 2017 season, said MFL in a statement today.
Simultaneously, among the matches of focus in the first week of the Super League competition is the Selangor FC and Sri Pahang FC face-off at Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Stadium on March 6.
The match between 2020 Premier League runners-up Terengganu FC II (TFC II) and new kid on the block, the FAM-MSN Project Squad at Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium, Kuala Terengganu is an interesting match in the first week of the 2021 Premier League which also raises its curtain on March 6.
‘‘As announced by MFL previously that there will be no FA Cup championship for the 2021 season, MFL hopes all the teams can make their best preparations to ensure quality performance.
‘‘At the same time, MFL also hopes that all the teams will always maintain their compliance of SOP,’’ said MFL chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan in the statement.
‘‘Every team has already been given the green light to hold centralised training programme via bubble through two methods, namely, Home and Camp Quarantine,’’ it said.
MFL said that it realised the challenges faced by the football industry in the COVID-19 pandemic currently, but believed the harmony of the M-League competition could be maintained if all quarters played their roles well by complying with all the SOPs set.
Meanwhile, Ab Ghani said in the statement, MFL harboured the hope that the government would allow spectators at the stadium on a small scale if the COVID-19 cases dropped in the future.
He said MFL had also submitted the suggestion to the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) in November.
‘‘It is MFL’s hope. We want venues to be enlivened with the presence of local football supporters.
‘‘MFL thanks KBS for supporting local football during the 2020 M-League campaign and the 2021 season,’’ he added. — Bernama
