TWO FOOTBALL TOURNAMENTS TO BE HELD IN SABAH

25 JAN 2021

By Syabil Syafi

KOTA KINABALU: Two football tournaments will be organised in the state in producing new talents apart from developing the sports arena especially in Sabah this year.

Sabah Football Association (SAFA) assistant secretary-general Azman Mastar said, among the tournaments are the Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Mohd Noor Football Cup and the Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin Football Cup.

"For the Hajiji Cup, it will replace the Chief Minister's Cup tournament organised previously, while the Bung Moktar Radin Cup is a new tournament, namely to win the SAFA President's Cup.

"There is no age limit for players set for the Hajiji Cup tournament but for the Bung Moktar Cup, it will only involve players under the age of 18," he said when met after chairing the committee meeting at the SAFA office, yesterday.

Azman, who is also the Chairman of the SAFA Local Competition Committee, said the dates of the two tournaments have yet to be determined but will still be implemented this year.

He added both the tournaments will involve eight zones that have been agreed in the meeting.

"The competition committee held its first meeting today (yesterday) and after this, we will decide the date of the tournament," he said.

Among the zones that will be involved in the tournament are zones of Sandakan, Beluran and Kinabatangan, Tawau, Semporna, Lahad Datu and Kunak, as well as the Lower Interior Zone consisting of Keningau, Tenom, Tambunan and Nabawan.

Apart from that, the South West Coast Zone (Beaufort, Kuala Penyu, Menumbok and Sipitang), the Upper Interior Zone (Ranau, Telupid and Tongod), the West Coast Zone (Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Papar) the Northern Zone (Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas and Kota Belud), and the Lower North Zone (Tuaran, Tamparuli and Penampang) will also be involved.

Meanwhile, Azman noted that the tournaments aim to produce more new talents in an effort to further enhance the football sports in the state.

“This is in line with the aspirations and direction of SAFA Acting President Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin who wants football to continue to be developed, thus returning the performance of the Sabah team to the right track.

"We need to give our full support to this direction as football is very popular," he said.

Azman also mentioned that the tournament will be implemented as soon as it gets the permission of the government following the current implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

"We need to organise these tournaments as our neighbour Sarawak has already planned to do so," he said.