Football

FAM delay three tournaments till June

THREE competitions, organised annually by FAM, will be delayed this year due to Covid-19.

They are the President's Cup, Youth Cup and Malaysia Premier Futsal League (MPFL), which are usually held from March.

But for this year, the three tournaments will see a tentative June kickoff and a revised format.

FAM secretary general Stuart Ramalingam said: "We have scheduled to kick off in June using a regional format which will allow for less travel and more 'controlled movements' for the teams."

He said in the event that (preliminary) matches could not be completed as scheduled or due to delay, the organisers will continue with the knockout stage.

"For example, if there is a lockdown in the northern region, then central, south and such will still continue to play but come the cutoff date, those at the top of the table will be the ones moving to the knockout stage."

Stuart said such a mechanism could be an appropriate solution to the matches affected by the Movement Control Order (MCO).

"If teams could not complete all their games (due to the pandemic in their states), this will not affect those at the top of the table at the time and they will move on.

"This format is only for this year and is the best format due to the current circumstances."

The MPFL will be played in a league format but centralised venue, which means the competition will be held at one venue for a week before moving to another place.

Stuart said FAM, in coming up with the revised format, have taken into consideration the travel restrictions that could be imposed if the pandemic worsens.

"This format will give us flexibility because the pandemic is so unpredictable. This fluid format will allow a lot more elbow room for us to operate the events without having to cancel just because one or two teams can't play that week."

FAM opted for a June kickoff for all the three competitions after taking into account the fasting month and Hari Raya which fall on April-May.

Last year, all three competitions were cancelled due to Covid-19. As the President's Cup and Youth Cup matches were to be held on open fields, it was difficult to enforce safety measures. The MPFL was called off as its matches were to be played in indoor venues that had difficulty conforming to standard operating procedure (SOP).

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