KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) are hoping that the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) will consider reviewing the dates for the AFF Cup because the scheduled dates clash with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC Cup) competition scheduled at the end of the year.
MFL Chief Executive Officer Datuk Stuart Ramalingam said the proposed dates will affect the countries two representatives playing in the AFC CUp, namely Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Selangor FC.
“The National team is MFL’s priority and for clubs playing in the MFL, the AFC Cup competition is important, therefore both priorities are important for development of football in the country. So, we are now in a difficult position due to the clash of dates for the AFF Cup and AFC Cup.
“We hope AFF can decide on a more suitable date, not just for Malaysia but other countries in the region too. We will certainly discuss with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to decide what needs to be done and reach a positive decision for MFL and also the National team,” he said when met by reporters, here today.
The AFF had announced that the AFF Cup competition has been scheduled from Nov 23 to Dec 21.
M-League outfit JDT will be involved in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) and involved in two matches lined up from Nov 25-27 and Dec 2-4 while Selangor FC will be competing in the AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2) from Nov 26-28 and Dec 3-5.
Apart from Malaysia, the competition also sees clubs from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines competing in the East Zone competition.
Stuart however, did not want to speculate on claims that if the AFF Cup was to be held on the said dates, there was a possibility that the AFF Cup competition will be a low key affair due to the clash of dates.
“The FAM may have their own strategy and MFL are ready to assist in any way possible because both competitions are important,” he said. – Bernama
