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MHC stick to no March date for ACT

MALAYSIA were one of the countries who voted against holding the men and women's Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in March.

It was a wise decision from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) considering that both their men and women's teams are training online with no clear sight of the Movement Control Order (MCO) ending soon.

The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) had planned to hold the men's ACT in Bangladesh and women's competition in South Korea in March, but the Covid-19 pandemic made it an impossible task.

Both tournaments are now likely to be held after the Tokyo Olympics on July 23-Aug 8.

"Malaysia had to say no to March because both teams are training online and there is no clear sight on when the MCO will end.

"Also, with the rise in Covid-19 cases in the country, I believe the government would not give our teams clearance to leave the country," said MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal yesterday.

The teams affected by the postponement are Malaysia, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, China, Bangladesh and Thailand.

"We also took into account the quarantine periods in Bangladesh and South Korea, and the isolation guidelines upon returning to Malaysia before opting not to support the March dates.

"Furthermore, teams would be confined to their hotel rooms and not allowed to play friendly matches during the quarantine period. "The ACT is a ranking event and jumping straight from quarantine into a tournament will not help our cause at all," Subahan added.

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