KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan has stressed that the first phase of training for Malaysia League (M-League) teams may hold the key to whether or not the second phase of training will be permitted.
He said there would be a better prospect of implementing the second phase of training, which allows body contact, if all teams were disciplined in complying with the standard operating procedure (SOP) during the first phase.
“The first phase is very important as it’s a test for us to adhere to the SOP set for the teams. If we pass it, we can move further forward through phase two. SOP is important for us to reduce Covid-19 infections.
“Most important is to show the government that there’s no problem for teams to conduct training under the supervision of the MFL. If all teams can give their cooperation and comply with the SOP, we (MFL) will go ahead with the application for the second phase of training,” he said.
The second phase will see teams resume normal training in preparation for the resumption of the 2020 M-League season, which is expected to be in September after it was suspended in March following the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The Youth and Sports Ministry had earlier given permission for all team and combat sports to resume non-body contact training by maintaining three to five metres of social distancing from June 15.
The MFL, then, outlined four key requirements that teams had to adhere to before they could resume training for the first time since March.
Ab Ghani said that MFL had, so far, approved five out of the seven applications by teams to resume training. The five teams given the green light to begin training under the first phase are Johor Darul Ta’zim, Selangor, UiTM FC, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor 2.
“I do not expect any problems if teams comply with the SOP because the Covid-19 statistics today has shown a reduction in the number of cases and several activities have been permitted. The road to normalcy is looking more positive,” he explained.
— Bernama
