NEGRI Sembilan's decision to withdraw from the Malaysia Cup came as a shock, but coach K. Devan insists it was the right move.
On Friday, the club confirmed that 20 players and four officials tested positive for Covid-19.
While disclosing that those infected were not critical, he said it would have been impossible for the players to return upon recovery and immediately undergo high-intensity training to prepare for the Malaysia Cup.
"A player cannot just jump into tough training after recovering from Covid-19. The right way is to go through low-intensity training for about a week or so before going hard.
"With the quarantine and recovery period, it would have been tough to prepare for the Malaysia Cup after a long period of inactivity.
"I hope those with Covid will follow all guidelines during the recovery period. As for the team, we will start planning for next year," he said.
Devan also said he has evaluated his players for contract renewals ahead of the next season.
"We were looking forward to resuming our campaign in the Malaysia Cup. However, we have withdrawn, and everyone is disappointed.
"I have to apologise to the fans as they were excited to watch the matches in Paroi following the clearance to allow supporters into venues.
"As for the contracts, we have roughly identified the players who will be retained as we have been evaluating them since the start of the season," he added.
Negri were supposed to resume their campaign against Kedah at home on Oct 29.