KUALA LUMPUR: The Super League match between Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Petaling Jaya City FC (PJ City FC) scheduled at Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium, Larkin tomorrow night has been postponed to July 16 after Southern Tigers players came down with influenza.
The Malaysian Football League (MFL), in a media statement, said the decision was made following an application for match postponement and the submission of a medical report by JDT today.
Yesterday, JDT technical director Alistair Edwards said 17 people, including 10 JDT players, some coaches and club personnel, were infected with the influenza virus.
After a study, MFL has agreed to not proceed with the match for fear of the influenza virus spreading as it is a contagious disease, it said.
“In this regard, MFL decided to postpone the match to a new date, that is July 16. This decision was supported by both teams,“ the statement said.
The Malaysian League administrator noted that the Kuala Lumpur team also agreed to change their match date with JDT on July 14 to July 13 to give the Southern Tiger squad a two-day break before the match against PJ City FC, in the spirit of sportsmanship.
For the record, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Local Competition Committee in June 2014 had postponed the Premier League match involving the Perlis and UiTM FC teams after 14 of the Perlis players had diarrhoea.
Meanwhile, PJ City FC secretary-general S. Ganesh, in the same statement, said the team had been informed of the situation and supported the decision to postpone the match.
“Based on the report on the health case affecting some of the JDT players, we cannot take the matter lightly, and we too have to take precautions because we are worried that other players might be infected.
“I hope the situation will return to normal soon and now we should give priority to the health of players, whether our opponents or our own team,” he said. — Bernama
