Gov't sticking with decision to postpone 2020 Malaysia Cup - Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is sticking to its decision to postpone the 2020 Malaysia Cup campaign as a measure to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said although the Malaysian Football League (MFL), as the governing body of the Malaysian League (M-League), had appealed to the National Security Council (NSC) for the competition to continue, the decision was maintained to avoid the risk of the disease spreading among players and team officials.

However, he said that if the epidemic could be controlled within the next two or three weeks, the football competition could resume.

"The NSC’s special meeting found there is a risk of transmissions occurring on the field when there is contact (during the match) because contact (between players) is inevitable.

"Secondly, the number of players and staff is also large, for example, during training sessions, they may take the bus together, even in the dressing room it is difficult to control the SOP (standard operating procedure)," he said during his press conference at Wisma Pertahanan here today.

Ismail Sabri stressed that organising the local football competition was quite different from holding entertainment performances, as the issue was raised by certain quarters.

He said the SOP for entertainment performances was easier to implement than football tournaments such as the Malaysia Cup.

"(The SOP for) entertainment (performances) is easier (to implement) because there are no spectators. Everyone involved wears a face mask. However, it is not possible for a football player to wear a face mask on the field," he said.

Yesterday, MFL reportedly submitted an appeal to the NSC to reconsider the decision to postpone the Malaysia Cup 2020 campaign.

On Monday, Ismail Sabri informed that the NSC in a meeting with the Ministry of Health Malaysia had decided to hold off the Malaysia Cup competition for the time being.

-- BERNAMA