MERDEKA TOURNAMENT MYSTERY

First postponed, then to be held in March and now January is also in the equation

THE Merdeka Tournament will likely make a return next year after a five-year absence and is likely to be hosted in March. The FA of Malaysia (FAM) were looking at postponing the tournament to 2020 or 2021, as revealed by their president Datuk Hamidin Amin to NSTP Sport in Muscat recently, but apparently they have changed their mind.

It is understood that FAM need to hold the Merdeka Tournament this year as they have already signed an agreement with a sports management company to organise the event.

In the interview in Muscat, Hamidin disclosed that the Merdeka Tournament will likely be postponed due to the unavailability of suitable dates.

The previous editions of the Merdeka Tournament were held during or after the Merdeka month.

FAM were also looking at Fifa dates in June but opted not to as it will clash with the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Instead, Hamidin proposed a four-nation tournament for the senior team as a replacement in March.

It will also be a problem if FAM decide to host it on March 14- 26 (which falls under the Fifa dates) as the national youth team, under Ong Kim Swee, will be involved in the AFC Under-23 qualifiers, which doubles up as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Further confusion over the dates of the Merdeka Tournament arose when the MLeague calendar was released by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) on Saturday.

According to the calendar, the tournament, last held in 2013 as an Under-23 event, will be held on Jan 26-31.

However, FAM secretary general Stuart Ramalingam confused the matter even more when he stated on Saturday that the tournament, first held in 1957, will likely take place in March.

Stuart said: “January is crucial for MLeague teams as they need to prepare for the new season, which starts in February.

“The MFL released their calendar after consulting FAM and it was decided then that January was a suitable month to host the Merdeka Tournament.

“We are now assessing whether to have the tournament in January or March. The proposal is to have it March,” said Stuart.

In 2013, Malaysia, under national youth coach Ong Kim Swee, won the Merdeka Tournament following a 2-0 win over Myanmar, in Kuantan.