KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) has announced that the Premier League 2022 will feature only 10 teams instead of 11 this season after Perak FC II are confirmed to have automatically dropped out of the second division of the Malaysia League (M-League).
MFL chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said Perak FC II had to automatically drop to the M3 league due to the participation of their parent club Perak FC in the Premier League next season.
Stuart said the Malaysia League Manual regulations state that the reserve team have to be automatically excluded from competition if the parent club drop one tier in the league.
“Perak FC have been officially relegated from Super League to Premier League for 2022, and Regulation 3.19.6 Articles 1.1 and 1.2 state that the parent club and reserve team cannot compete in the same tournament.
“The Premier League format previously featured 12 teams but MFL took note of the announcement by AFL on Sept 14 regarding the cancellation of the M3 League, which meant that no team could be promoted to Premier League 2022 by merit of competition,” Stuart said.
Perak FC finished second last in the Super League this season and together with bottom team UiTM FC have been relegated to Premier League for next season.
Without Perak FC II, the Premier League 2022 will feature Kuching City FC, Johor Darul Ta’zim II, Terengganu FC II, Selangor FC 2, PDRM FC, Kelantan United FC, Kelantan FC, Skuad Projek FAM-MSN, Perak FC and UiTM FC.
Meanwhile, the top two teams in Premier League this season, Sarawak United FC and Negeri Sembilan FC, have confirmed their promotion to play in Super League 2022.- Bernama
