M-League organisers to find middle ground over players’ release

PETALING JAYA: The Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) are looking for a win-win situation to encourage M-League teams to release their players for the 2018 AFC Under-23 qualifiers in Bangkok from July 19-23.

National Under-23 coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s preparation for the tournament has hit a snag following the reluctance of a number of teams to release their players as the M-League’s title race and relegation battles heat up.

FMLLP, who are the M-League organisers, are willing to reschedule the fixtures if the teams make a request.

FMLLP chief executive officer Kevin Ramalingam (pic) acknowledged that “national interest always comes first”.

He explained that the fixtures were drawn with the input of the national teams’ coaches and the participating teams.

“I understand that some teams are not willing to release their players for the AFC Under-23 qualifiers because it clashes with their M-League fixtures,” said Kevin yesterday.

“We are ready to assist the national teams’ preparations by rescheduling the dates but we have yet to receive any official request from the teams.

“The decision to amend the fixtures will be decided by the FMLLP board, which has three representatives from the M-League and five from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).”

Kim Swee has called up 26 players for the team’s second phase of centralised training at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya on July 5.

The team will play against the Myanmar Under-22 side in a friendly at the Shah Alam Stadium on July 13 before leaving for Bangkok on July 17.

Malaysia will open their Group H campaign against Indonesia (on July 19), hosts Thailand (July 21) and Mongolia (July 23).

As it is, the M-League teams are likely to lose their key players for two Super League fixtures (July 7 and 18) and three Malaysia Cup matches (on July 11, 15 and 23).

A revised M-League fixtures will result with the season ending in mid-November. Initially, the competition was to end with the Malaysia Cup final on Oct 28.