Asian body give OK to revised M-League
THE M-League has received the thumbs-up from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) over its revised format for a September restart.
MFL have proposed that the Super League and the Premier League will begin on Sept 1-2, and will end on Sept 26-27. Only one round will be played.
The Malaysia Cup begins on Oct 17-18 and ends with the final on Nov 7.
MFL, hoping to complete the season, have scrapped the FA Cup and the Challenge Cup.
If the season restarts in September, teams who had completed only four matches when the league was suspended on March 16 due to Covid-19, will play seven matches each.
AFC general-secretary Windsor Paul, however, reminded the MFL that all M-League teams must agree to the proposed new format.
He added that the league must also strictly follow the Malaysian government’s standard operating procedure (SOP).
“The format proposed by MFL is reasonable because they have found the best way to finish the remaining matches in the league with the time they have,” he said.
“In the revised format, all teams need to compromise and decide whether to play their matches at home or away. They also need to consider other aspects.”
Windsor also urged MFL to study what other Asian countries are doing to restart their respective seasons.
“All SOPs need to be met as safety is now a priority. If the season restarts in September, it would offer MFL a chance to learn from other Asian leagues.
“For example, South Korea’s KLeague will begin on May 8 and maybe MFL can observe and pick up finer points from them on how to deal with issues,” he added.