Kedah, Kelantan and Melaka United receive ‘licence to play’ in Super League

KUALA LUMPUR: Three teams – Kedah, Kelantan and Melaka United – were awarded ‘licence to play' in the Super League next season by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) after fulfilling the requirements and criteria set by the governing body for football in the country.

FAM secretary-general Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said the licence issued to the three teams were from the FAM and does not involve licence issued by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

"The applications of the three teams was initially rejected for failing to fulfill the criteria but their appeal was approved by the FAM Appeals Committee after a meeting on Oct 27," he said in a statement yesterday.

Hamidin said the appeal of two other teams, Felda United FC and Sarawak, was rejected after failing to meet one of the six criteria set for the approval, although additional time was given.

The teams are assessed in six key criteria namely sporting, infrastructure, personnel & administration, legal, financial and business, all of which is stated in the FAM Club Licensing Regulations Edition 2017.

The FAM had earlier announced that seven of the 12 teams in the Super League, namely Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), Pahang, Perak, PKNS FC, Penang, Selangor and T-Team had been issued ‘licence to play' by the FAM.

In addition, JDT, Pahang, PKNS FC and Selangor have also managed to obtain licence from the AFC to play in the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup competitions. - Bernama