KUALA LUMPUR – This season’s Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) is set to lose its lustre now that defending champions Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) will not be competing.
Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Competitions Committee chairman Datuk Seri Dr Anil Jeet Singh said that UniKL, champions for three consecutive years from 2019, failed to submit their final confirmation form to compete in the 2022 MHL, which is scheduled to be held from Feb 18-March 31.
The committee, he said, then unanimously agreed to replace the league champions and 2021 Charity Shield winners with the MHC Development Team for this year’s men’s category of the MHL.
On the MHL curtain-raiser, namely the 2022 Charity Shield match between league champions UniKL and 2021 TNB Cup winners Terengganu Hockey Team (TNT) on Feb 18, Anil Jeet said the matter could only be decided through joint discussions with all the affected parties.
“UniKL wanted to compete in the 2022 MHL, but they failed to submit their final confirmation form. Although they were given an extension until today (Feb 7), we still have not received any feedback.
“This development team will have national players. As we have stated before, we wish to see the national players get the opportunity to play and get ready for upcoming international matches,” he said in a statement today.
He also hoped that all the competing teams would take full responsibility to protect themselves as best possible during the MHL so as to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Apart from the MHC Development Team, the other six teams who will be competing in the men’s category are Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), TNB Thunderbolts, UiTM HA, Nurinsafi Sporting, Maybank Hockey Team and THT.
In the women’s category, debutants Negeri Sembilan Girls, Sarawak and the MHC Development Team (women) will vie for the title with Mutiara Impian-MSSPP-PSHA, Sabah and KPT-Uniten Thunderbolts.
