M-League to take a break to help Harimau Malaya
KUALA LUMPUR: The M-League will take a break to enable Malaysia to send their strongest national team to the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup from Aug 26-Sept 9 in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The Malaysian Football League (MFL) said that the M-League, scheduled to start on Aug 8, will take a short break during the CAFA Cup, thus allowing the national team to call up the best available players for the tournament.
MFL acting chief executive officer Shazli Shaik said: "Since the CAFA Cup takes place just before the Fifa window, we are giving way to the national team.
"We know that assembling the national team will involve players from major clubs such as Johor Darul Ta'zim, Selangor and possibly Sabah and KL City.
"Priority will be given to the national team, and during that period, there will be no league matches," he said.
The CAFA Nations Cup will feature eight teams, including 2026 World Cup qualifiers Iran (world No. 18) and Uzbekistan (No. 57). The other expected participants are Oman (No. 77), Kyrgyzstan (No. 103), Tajikistan (No. 104), Turkmenistan (No. 142), and Afghanistan (No. 160).
Shazli stressed that the national team's agenda would not disrupt the M-League, as no fixtures will be postponed to accommodate Harimau Malaya.
"There's no issue of postponement as the league calendar is yet to be released. We've taken the national team's request into consideration to ensure it doesn't interfere with league proceedings.
"In the past, such requests were made while the league was already ongoing. We're now in constant communication with the national team."
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