KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) tried their best, even attending a marathon three-hour meeting with Donghae health officials, but in the end, Malaysia were politely denied playing time in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT), which starts on Sunday.
The issue cropped up when Malaysian player Nurul Faezah Shafiqah tested positive for Covid-19 a day after arriving for the tournament, and the entire contingent are now under quarantine.
The players tested negative before flying off on Nov 29.
They were tested again a day after arriving in Donghae and Nurul Faezah returned a positive result.
And even though several tests were conducted since and no positive results were found, South Korea health officials are adamant that Malaysia can't play the first two matches.
An Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) statement read: "The Donghae City officials also explained the reasoning for the team's quarantine (since their arrival on Nov 29). The AHF acknowledge that for medical reasons, this might be the current procedure for the Korean Health authorities.
"Unfortunately, as the current situation stands, the Malaysian team will not play on the first and second day of the event, meaning matches on Sunday and Monday."
In short, Malaysia will not face China on Sunday and India on Monday, and their tournament is over even before it started for Nasihin Nubli's charges.
The AHF also said they are hoping for a better understanding from the Korean Health officials and have also made contact with the leader of the opposition party Hong Moon Pyo, which is the ruling party in the city of Donghae to contact the mayor of Donghae City and support their cause.
The AHF forwarded a plan to test Malaysian players everyday, and will bear the cost, and only those with negative results will be allowed to play, but it looks like the proposal has been politely shot down as well.
The MHF are resigned to the fact that their women will not play in the ACT, even though the AHF have done their best to negotiate.