THE failure to take immediate action and isolate a former national Under-23 player, who had Covid-19 symptoms, has prematurely ended Negri Sembilan's season.
The Deer have officially withdrawn from the Malaysia Cup after 20 players and four officials tested positive for Covid-19.
It is learnt that they are experiencing asymptomatic symptoms and are currently insolating in their homes.
The Negri forward showed Covid-19 symptoms a few days after the Premier League champions played the national Under-23 team in a friendly last week.
Negri's subsequent friendlies against Penang (Oct 17) and Kuching City (Oct 20) were cancelled.
The national Under-23 have arrived in Mongolia for the Asian qualifiers.
However, a source revealed that despite the player showing Covid-19 symptoms, he had continued training in Paroi and even attended a team photoshoot.
Although the government has relaxed regulations for team sports, some M-League clubs still practise precautions to curb the spread of Covid-19.
For example, Penang have given their players Covid-19 home-kits to test themselves before reporting for training daily.
Their players are required to send a screenshot of their test results daily to the coaches and team doctor for evaluation.
"A total of 20 players and four officials have tested positive for Covid-19 and are now under the mandatory home quarantine and the 10-day observation imposed by the Health Ministry.
"We will also conduct tests on those who were in close contact.
"As advised by our team doctor, we will not continue with the remainder of the season," said Negri in a statement yesterday.
Negri director Satwant Singh, when contacted, did not want to comment further about the issue.
In the Malaysia Cup, K. Devan's side are third in Group C and have four remaining matches against Kedah (Oct 29 and Nov 2), Melaka United (Nov 6) and Kelantan United (Nov 9).
Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said Negri will concede walkovers in their remaining Malaysia Cup matches.
Asked whether Negri will be punished for withdrawing from the competition, Stuart said: "The MFL board will decide on it.
"However, it is highly unlikely as the pandemic is not a conventional force majeure situation.
"We have been communicating with Negri for the past few days. We are well aware of the developments at the club.
"We hope the players and officials will recover as soon as possible as health is paramount," said Stuart.
Negri could have continued their Malaysia Cup campaign by fielding youth players.
However, following the cancellation of the President's Cup and Youth Cup for the second straight year, youth footballers in the country have been inactive for almost 24 months.
