Sarawak United players pose during warm up before a recent friendly match against UiTM FC.
KUCHING: The Sarawak United Football Club (SUFC) has chosen Klang Valley as its base for preparations to mount a serious challenge in the Premier League 2021 in view of the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
This was confirmed by Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) president Dato Posa Majais after FAS received approval from the Malaysian Football League (MFL) on Wednesday to choose Klang Valley as its training venue.
Posa believes that teams from the Semenanjung would not come to Sarawak now because of the quarantine order imposed by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee.
He said the Sarawak government will not shorten the period of quarantine (two weeks) for visiting teams for the time being as Sarawak especially Kuching is still regarded as a red zone for Covid-19.
Additionally, if SUFC travels to Semenanjung for away matches, the team will also need to undergo quarantine upon its return to Sarawak.
The squad will strictly observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during the training sessions in the Klang Valley and practise Home Based Training and Camp Based Training at Mahsa University, Klang Valley, Selangor which has been approved by MFL.
SUFC coaches (from left) Lim Chan Yew, Safri Amit and Liew Kit Kong.
Meanwhile, SUFC assistant head coach Safri Amit said the approach to SOPs may be different but he and the coaching team led by head coach E Elavasaran are committed to carry out the training programme to prepare for the Premier League and the Malaysia Cup.
He added that the SOPs laid down by the National Security Council for all teams is to ensure high discipline among players and officials and that time is needed to enable them to adapt to the new norm.