SPORTS WITHOUT SPECTATORS?
THE possibility of allowing team contact sports to resume will be discussed next week. This includes holding football tournaments in empty stadiums.
APROPOSAL to allow full training and tournaments for team sports will be presented to the special ministerial meeting on the Movement Control Order (MCO) implementation next week.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said it would be presented by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican following grouses raised by operators of contact sports, including football associations.
“The government had allowed individual training (for sportsmen) without body contact from June 15. They now ask that team training be also allowed.
“We also expect the minister to present a proposal on tournaments for sports and recreation that will be taken into consideration at the meeting, for example, organising football matches without spectators,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
He said the Youth and Sports Ministry would engage with operators of football and futsal commercial courts and academies. Ismail Sabri said the ministerial meeting would then seek advice and recommendations from the National Security Council and the Health Ministry before reaching a decision.
He said the Youth and Sports Ministry would engage sports industry players from time to time.
The New Straits Times reported last month that the Malaysian Football League (MFL) was looking at restarting the M-League season by the middle of next month. Now only non-contact training, under strict guidelines, is allowed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri, who is also senior defence minister, touched on the public outcry over high prices of flight tickets raised by the Malaysian Aviation Commission at the meeting.
He said the government had requested airlines to recalibrate their pricing. This, he said, was because flights were now allowed to operate at full capacity.
Previously, each flight was allowed to operate at only 66 per cent capacity to meet the social distancing requirements.
“The meeting is of the view that prices of flight tickets should return to normal as offered prior to the MCO period. The meeting has taken note of the price hike of air tickets, especially for domestic flights between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak.”
Ismail Sabri said airlines should offer special prices for students and teachers following the reopening of schools and higher education institutions.
The Transport Ministry, he said, had been instructed to engage with the airlines to seek a solution to the issue.
Many travellers expressed outrage over pricey air tickets despite airlines being allowed to operate at full capacity since June 10 when the country entered the Recovery MCO phase.
On another matter, Ismail Sabri said the recent decision to allow workers from China to enter Sabah was not discussed at the federal level.
“The Sabah government did not discuss its decision to allow workers from China to enter the state with the federal government. It was not discussed at the federal level, including at the special ministerial meeting.”
He said Malaysia’s borders remained closed to foreigners, including tourists, under Act 342 (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988), except for those in category EP1 (expatriates on employment pass).
Other workers (non-EP1 visa holders) are still barred from entering the country and need to obtain permission from the Immigration Department to do so.
Malaysia, he said, still regarded China as a high-risk country for Covid-19.
“We are discussing with the National Security Council whether we can categorise the areas in China (based on Covid-19 risks) as the country is huge. Maybe some areas are red zones and others are not. However, that is under discussion.”
He was commenting on the recent announcement by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal that the state was opening its air, land and sea borders to Chinese nationals, including workers.