M3 League competition cancelled again - AFL chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to spook the development of football at amateur and semi-professional levels when the 2021 M3 League is once again cancelled for the second consecutive year.

The announcement was made by Amateur Football League (AFL) chairman Datuk Wira Mohd Yusoff Mahadi in a statement today.

According to him, the majority of the competing teams had agreed with the cancellation of the third division competition and decided to shift their focus on the next season.

"In principle, AFL wants to proceed with the competition by organising sports bubble from November 2021 and had tabled a working paper to all teams.

"Nevertheless, the cancellation was decided after taking into consideration all factors including operation matters, safety as well as constraints faced by AFL and the teams," said Mohd Yusoff who is also Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president.

He said the 2022 M3 League is being planned to kick off in February and all teams who have confirmed taking part this season are in.

Before this, FAM had cancelled the Youth Cup, President's Cup and the Malaysia Premier Futsal League (MPFL) competitions for the second year running due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

-- BERNAMA