PETALING JAYA, March 31 — Players and officials of Malaysia League (M-League) will have to be disciplined to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) of the sports bubble for at least a month after they are scheduled to receive Covid-19 vaccine shots from May.
Youths and Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said players and officials of the competing teams would receive their jabs in phase two of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
He said this is after the 264 athletes and officials representing the country at international tournaments in the mission to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, received theirs next month.
“The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has submitted 4,000 names and it would be broken down into four phases for M-League to enter in phase two and I expect the second phase will be starting in May.
“We also need to match with the supply schedule of the vaccine, each time they receive the jab, another dosage will be kept for the next cycle,” he told reporters after launching the SupaRimau League competition at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya here yesterday.
Last month, KBS confirmed the list of 4,000 athletes and officials to be given priority as Covid-19 vaccine recipients had been sent to Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who is also the Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
The latest development is a relief for teams playing in regional championships apart from Harimau Malaya who would be playing the remaining matches of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup Group G qualifiers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in June.
— Bernama
