KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — The 2024/2025 Malaysia League (M-League) campaign, which kicks off tomorrow, is seen as an opportunity to be a platform to unite the local football fraternity, which is still reeling from the recent series of attacks on three national players.

The attacks on the national players, especially Harimau Malaya and Selangor wing wizard Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim, who was splashed with acid at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya on Sunday (May 5), have had a huge impact on almost every local football fan.

Following the string of attacks and threats against several other Selangor players and officials after that, the 2023 Super League runners-up decided not to forfeit the Charity Shield match against defending Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), which was scheduled to be held today.

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) then had no choice but to cancel the match, which was supposed to be held at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor and award JDT victory with a 3-0 scoreline and all three points in the Super League.

The Charity Shield match also counts as the opening Super League match for the two teams.

Earlier, Selangor had applied for the Charity Shield match to be postponed but the MFL rejected their application, saying the police had already given their assurance about the team’s safety.

There will be six trophies up for grabs in this season’s M-League campaign, starting with the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup (Charity Shield), followed by the Super League, FA Cup, Malaysia Cup, MFL Challenge Cup and MFL Cup (for the Reserve League).

The top-tier Super League will see 13 teams, including JDT, Selangor, Terengganu FC, Kedah Darul Aman FC and Sabah FC, slugging it out for glory, with three matches scheduled at different venues from tomorrow.

JDT, under the guidance of head coach Hector Bidoglio, are on the right track to creating history by lifting the Super League title for the 11th consecutive time, in addition to becoming the first team to bag a triple Treble of the Super League, Malaysia Cup and FA Cup for the third straight season.

The other eight teams in the Super League are 2018 FA Cup champions Sri Pahang FC, Negeri Sembilan FC, Penang FC, Perak FC, 2021 Malaysia Cup winners Kuala Lumpur City FC, PDRM FC, Kuching City FC and Kelantan Darul Naim FC.

Following the unfortunate attacks on the three national players, this season’s Super League has paved the way for the 13 teams to join forces and boost the image of local football by showcasing the spirit of sportsmanship and professionalism.

It will indirectly educate club fans and instil positive values among the football fraternity, thus reducing or preventing such incidents from recurring.

The time has come for the M-League, spearheaded by the Super League, to play a bigger role in rejuvenating the national football industry to create a stable ecosystem and boost the league’s commercial value.

Meanwhile, this season’s M-League is expected to be more exciting and set to make national football history with the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

This technology has been approved by world football governing body Fifa and was scheduled to be used in the Charity Shield match.

The VAR system, already widely used in other leagues and international-level competitions, will hopefully help local referees make more accurate decisions and, thus, raise the standard of refereeing.

It is also hoped that this season’s M-League schedule, which runs over two years, can help resolve the overlapping match schedules involving international tournaments at the club level as well as the national team.

Among them are matches and tournaments involving the national team in the Fifa calendar; club-level competitions like the AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League 2; the Malaysia Games (Sukma); as well as the clubs’ rest and travel periods.

In addition, the MFL has also implemented the Financial Fair Play (FFP) initiative as part of their efforts to overcome the perennial issue of salary arrears by the local football clubs.

Following the cancellation of today’s Charity Shield match, the three Super League ties that will kick off tomorrow will see PDRM facing Kedah Darul Aman, Sri Pahang taking on Kelantan Darul Naim and Terengganu meeting Perak. Tomorrow will see Sabah squaring off with Penang and KL City slugging it out with Kuching City.

Besides Mohamad Faisal, the two other national players who were attacked recently were Terengganu winger Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid in Kuala Terengganu and JDT midfielder Safiq Rahim (also former Harimau Malaya skipper) in Johor Baru.

Local football observers and analysts believe that the M-League competition still has an aura of its own, it still needs the cooperation of all parties to make the 2024/2025 season a success and signify the start of a new era of footballing excellence. — Bernama