KUALA LUMPUR: March 18, 2020, will forever be etched in the memory of local football fans as the day the nation’s number one sport came to a standstill.
Surely nobody could have imagined the world’s most popular game would also fall victim to the Covid-19 pandemic that forced the Malaysian government to enforce the Movement Control Order (MCO) on that fateful day.
The pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.6 million lives worldwide so far, affected the planning and hosting of all competitions, both domestic and international, throughout the year.
Not only did it leave the national squad having to close the curtain on 2020 without any international action, unlike the previous year when they played 13 matches, it also led to the Malaysia Cup, which is the oldest tournament in South-East Asia, being cancelled for the first time since 1947.
Having excelled in 2019, the national team stepped confidently into 2020 with the aim of qualifying for the 2023 Asian Cup Finals. Unfortunately, the Harimau Malaya supporters will now have to wait a little longer for that to happen as the pandemic also forced the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers to be postponed to next year.
The pandemic also derailed coach Tan Cheng Hoe’s men’s aim to make amends for their runner-up finish in the 2018 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship as the AFF decided to postpone the biennial tournament to December 2021.
Domestically, the government’s priority to curb the spread of the infectious disease through the enforcement of the MCO led to all professional as well as amateur football activities being “temporarily halted” before several tournaments were eventually cancelled.
While the government finally allowed the Super League and Premier League competitions to resume behind closed doors after being suspended for nearly five months since March, time constraint forced the Malaysian Football League (MFL) to call off the FA Cup, Challenge Cup, Youth Cup and President’s Cup tournaments.
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) went on to retain the Super League title for the seventh consecutive time while Penang were crowned Premier League champions.
However, the fixtures for both these tournaments had to be shortened to 11 matches, instead of the usual 22 (home-and-away format), while other championships too had to be cancelled in order for the Malaysia Cup competition to be held.
But then, even the Malaysia Cup could not keep the Covid-19 pandemic at bay as it too was called off after the first round of matches.
The National Security Council (MKN), in prioritising the safety and health of the people, felt that football, being a contact sport, posed a huge infection risk.
The government also made clear its strict stance on the matter when it decided not to allow JDT to travel to Doha, Qatar to compete in the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, scheduled to be held from Nov 18-Dec 19, in line with its decision to close all the country’s borders.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) too had no choice but to postpone the AFC Under-19 Championship to March 2021, with national head coach Brad Maloney’s boys still in the hunt to create history by becoming the first Malaysian side to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup Finals on merit.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. Despite the dark clouds of the pandemic hovering over the country, there was a sliver of silver lining when two Malaysian players decided to spread their wings by joining European clubs.
History was made on Oct 24 when 18-year-old Luqman Hakim Shamsudin became the first Malaysian to feature in a major European league after signing a five-year contract with Belgian professional outfit KV Kortrijk in August.
JDT and national team ace Muhammad Safawi Rasid too caught the eyes of Portuguese Premiera side Portimonense SC, joining them on loan until the end of the season.
In the meantime, FAM continued to take steps to collaborate with the National Sports Council (NSC) by forming the FAM-NSC Project Squad, to be coached by former national player Yusri Che Lah, for next season’s Premier League competition.
This is an effort by FAM and NSC to create a career path for the products of the National Football Development Programme (NFDP), including graduates from the Mokhtar Dahari Academy (AMD), and help the country’s young players make the transition to the senior and professional stages.
After a year of trials and tribulations brought about by the pandemic, it is no wonder that FAM president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin is hoping for a better and brighter 2021, one where the national football industry will thrive again with the support of all parties and culminate with the Harimau Malaya qualifying for the 2023 Asian Cup Finals.
Now, wouldn’t that be the perfect way to bury the ghost of Covid-19?-Bernama
