THE date that the 24 teams in the suspended M-League have been eagerly waiting for, was finally announced yesterday.
But it was not what they speculated. Not Aug 15, a date set by the government from which team competitions can be held, or Sept 1, a date initially proposed by the FA of Malaysia.
The 2020 season, interrupted since March 16 by Covid-19, will restart on Aug 22, said the Malaysian Football League (MFL) yesterday,
But only one match, PJ City FC versus Terengganu FC (which was postponed earlier) will be played on that day. The full set of fixtures will be played on Aug 26.
This means the teams will have gone without a competitive match for more than five months since the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent Movement Control Order.
The Super League and Premier League have been reduced to just 11 matches under the revised format. With four rounds already played in March, it means only seven rounds are left.
The Malaysia Cup will begin on Oct 17 with its format changed to direct knockout while the group matches are scrapped. The FA Cup has been cancelled.
MFL Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan said teams need to register every match venue with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry while carrying out sanitisation and disinfection.
"Match commissioners appointed by MFL will conduct match venue inspections before the league resumes and SOP will be distributed to all teams."
Ghani said MFL will only allow teams to play friendly matches behind closed doors from Aug 2 in their preparation for the M-League
Ghani will recommend that only Super League and Premier League teams play each other in friendly matches because the players of these teams are the ones that been tested for Covid-19.
Yesterday's MFL announcement was welcomed by Super League coaches.
Kedah coach Aidil Sharin said: "At first they were saying it would be at the beginning of September, then there were rumours of August 15. So, it's fixed now for August 26.
"I'm happy with the announcement and I think all the clubs are about the same preparation-wise, from the MCO to phase 1 and now phase 2.
"This is like having a long heavy injury and coming back after six months, that's the feeling. Everything has to start back from square one.
"After two days of contact training, our boys are feeling a bit of tightness, soreness and lack of strength. But I think we will come back stronger in this final one month.
"We have to be very positive, quickly find out the weaknesses and make full use of this final stage," said Aidil.
For Felda United coach, Nidzam Jamil, yesterday's announcement was music to his ears.
He feels that the period from July 15 to Aug 26 is sufficient enough to get his players into the right condition.
"In the first phase, it was four weeks and now there are another four weeks to go, I think that is ample time to prepare our players. Yes, we do have problems during the first phase (from June 15) because it was only non-contact.
"We were only allowed 10 players and four coaches at one time. Suddenly in this second phase, when everyone is there, it feels like I have a big family! We missed it and now everyone is happy because we can do the kind of training that we like.
"It's enough time for players to get fully fit like before. The important thing is to make them fit again to play matches because the schedule will be quite packed," said Nidzam.