Malaysia Cup: MFL fear SOP breach by fans may jeopardise final

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) are worried that breach of the standard operating procedure (SOP) in the first-leg of the Malaysia Cup semi-finals may jeopardise the hosting of the final of the prestigious tournament at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday (Nov 30).

MFL chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said he feared that the government, which had worked hard to control the spread of COVID-19, might revoke its decision to allow fans back into stadiums, thus resulting in the final having to be played behind closed doors.

In fact, he said the bigger impact would be the possibility of fans not being allowed into competition venues for next season's Malaysia League (M-League).

"Like it or not, we must be more mature in going about the new normal due to the COVID-19 threat. So, I hope football fans in the country will always comply with the SOP stipulated by the government.

"I hope such SOP-flouting incidents will not recur when the return legs are played tomorrow," he said in a statement today.

Today, the Terengganu Health Depatrment issued compound notices of RM10,000 each to Terengganu Football Club Sdn Bhd (TFC) and Malaysia Football League (MFL) for breach of standard operating procedures (SOP) during TFC's Malaysia Cup semi-final, first-leg tie against Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Kuala Nerus on Monday (Nov 22).

The compound notices were issued because they failed to ensure adherence to the general protocol in management of fans and supporters, that is physical distancing and proper wearing of face masks during the match.

Meanwhile, Stuart said the MFL, as the organisers, deeply regretted the incident of breach of SOP.

"We should actually be more sensitive to the rising number of COVID-19 cases. I hope such incidents do not recur," he said.

-- BERNAMA