PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Football League (MFL) said Perak were consulted before a decision was made to postpone the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) game in Ipoh on Oct 5.
In a statement issued by their chief executive officer (CEO) Giorgio Pompili Rossi, he said the match commissioner followed the procedure by the book.
The commissioner had adhered to the Rule 2.8.1 matches abandoned due to heavy rain resulting in the pitch being unfit for use.
"The match commissioner has followed a set process where the match cannot be restarted. Both clubs had to wait for the match to be played again within a maximum of 60 minutes (first 30 minutes and second 30 minutes) with the agreement of both clubs," said the Italian, who is the first foreign CEO in MFL.
"After the waiting period was over, the pitch condition was still unusable so the commissioner informed both clubs of the decision to postpone the match.
"Thus Perak’s claim (that they were not consulted) is untrue because the home team knew about the current state of the pitch because they were informed by the commissioner to wait according to the rules.
On Sunday, Perak’s football chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi claimed that his side were not consulted about the decision by the MFL and expressed his disappointment about it.
He added the club shared the disappointment with their fans and the footballing community over the postponement, due to alleged inclement weather and unsuitable pitch.
"It is clear here that Perak’s statement about them not being given the space and opportunity to discuss throughout the decision-making process yesterday is contradictory, distorted and does not reflect the actual situation at that time."
