M-League postponement a right decision
Sabah FC have welcomed the decision to postpone the 2021 Malaysian League kick-off to March 5, with team manager Ahmad Marzuki Nasir saying it would provide adequate time to conduct their pre-season training.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah FC has welcomed the decision to postpone the 2021 Malaysian League kick-off to March 5.
Team manager Ahmad Marzuki Nasir said the postponement would provide adequate time to teams to conduct their pre-season training, should the Movement Control Order (MCO) is not extended beyond February 4.
“I think it is the right decision,” he said when contacted here yesterday.
“We are still in the MCO period now and all the teams are not allowed to conduct full training.
“So, to delay the start of the new season should be fair because if the MCO is lifted and with the restrictions relaxed, we can return to full training.
“Hopefully with the extra time following the postponement, we can have a solid pre-season.
“For now, the players are continuing with their training from home and their progress monitored by the coaches,” he added.
For the record, the new Malaysian League season was supposed to kick-off on February 26 with the Charity Shield match between Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Kedah Darul Aman FC.
However, following the decision from the government to extend the MCO until February 4, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) had decided to postpone the kick-off after holding a special online meeting with the MFL Board Members club representatives on Monday.
It was also decided at the meeting that the FA Cup will not be organised this season, according to MFL chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan.
With that, the Malaysian League 2021 calendar will only see the Super League, Premier League, Malaysia Cup and Challenge Cup being contested.
Marzuki said it was unfortunate that the FA Cup would not be taking place but he believed the tough decision was made for the betterment of all, including the participating teams.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Sabah FC had signed two foreign imports - a defender and a midfielder - but the team manager did not eloborate further.
“We will make an announcement soon,” Marzuki said while adding they have three more transfer targets but nothing is concrete at the moment.
South Korean defender Park Tae Su is the only foreign import retained for the new season and with the addition of the two signings, Sabah FC will have another two quotas of foreign players to fill.