Terengganu FA and Johor Darul Takzim FC (JDT) officials will meet Football Association of Malaysia[FAM]'s headquarters at Wisma FAM to resolve a brewing row resulting from the rescheduling of their Malaysia Cup second leg tie.
JDT's request for the rescheduling of the game from the initial date of Oct. 11 was approved by the FAM last week. The reason given was the unavailability of their first team players who were called up for national team duties by Malaysia and Singapore.
But Terengganu were upset that they were not consulted prior to the decision. They have threatened to boycott the match if FAM insist on them playing the tie on Oct. 17.
- Leong: Rescheduling farce between JDT and Terengganu
As reported by the New Straits Times, Terengganu FA president Datuk Wan Ahmad Nizam Abdul Hamid revealed that a decision was made at an executive council meeting in Kuala Terengganu on Thursday.
"Call it principle or whatever, but we have decided not to play the return leg in Johor Baru on Oct. 17 as we were never consulted before FAM decided to postpone the match previously scheduled for Saturday" said Datuk Hamid. "This is not an ultimatum to FAM or anybody else as we will play the tie before Oct. 17 provided all parties agree to the proposed new date."
The head honcho of Terengganu went on to reiterate that this is a matter of principle and not a vendetta against their quarterfinal opponents.
He added: "We have no beef whatsoever with Darul Takzim (JDT) as they had to do whatever they thought was right for them when they submitted the request to delay the match for another week. But their wish was granted by FAM and we as an interested party in this case feel that we are not being treated fairly by not being consulted at all on the late change of schedule,"
FAM president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah knows that that the two clubs must come to a swift decision. He hopes that all concerned can keep a cool head to come to a solution that will satisfy both parties.
"The original decision to change the date was to allow the national team more time to prepare [for the AFF Suzuki Cup after the Malaysia Cup]," he said. "That was the intention. There was a view to give priority to the national team. I hope the teams can sit down and talk amicably to resolve the situation. "We at FAM are very sorry for the inconvenience it has caused. There is no problem that cannot be resolved with good intentions."
A decision will be made at the end of the meeting between the two clubs while the other three Malaysia Cup quarterfinal second leg matches (PDRM FA vs Pahang FA, Felda United vs Selangor FA and Kedah FA vs Kelantan FA) will be played later on Friday.