The Malaysia Premier Futsal League Returns!

It has been over a year since the last time we witnessed futsal action on the court. But after waiting for so long: Finally! The Malaysia Premier Futsal League (MPFL) has come back in action!

Last year’s edition was rendered null and void thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic after playing just one matchday and since then until now, there was no indication when futsal action will return. Now wait no longer, the MPFL will return for its first matchday in June for the men and August for the women.

The excitement of the return of the MPFL is further boosted by the number of new teams added to both categories. How many are we talking about? Two? Three? Four? Nope. We’re talking about EIGHT new teams in both the men’s and the women’s categories. In effect, it brings a total of 20 teams in the men’s category and 12 in the women’s division. The stakes could not be any higher now there’s more potential competition among these teams.

Before we go into the additions for the women’s league, we have to go into the subtraction. Perak, Kedah and 2019 runner-up Selangor have not fielded a team, leaving defending champions Kuala Lumpur the sole survivor from the 2019 season. But in their place come the new kids on the block representing the states. For Selangor, KPTM Bangi, Selangor MBPJ FC and Selangor MBSJ FC will be the teams coming from Selangor. So if there are any futsal fans from Bangi, Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya, you are in luck! Meanwhile, Perak SSCJ will be repping Perak while FC Langkawi will keep Kedah’s flag high!

And already having men’s teams, Pahang Rangers FC and Sarawak, who was one of the new men’s teams last year, has added a women’s team to their ranks. Kuala Lumpur Prefer FC, another newcomer, could ruffle the status quo in KL futsal as they look to give Kuala Lumpur something to think about.

Sabah and PDRM FC are the only ones who are actually new in BOTH categories, joining Pahang Rangers, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur and Melaka who are looking to make it a double triumph. Melaka is unique among these teams as their men’s team has returned after sitting out last year’s edition, having finished seventh in 2019.

Along with Melaka’s return and the aforementioned Sabah and PDRM FC, the men’s league will also welcome Shah Alam City, Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM), Kelantan United, Selangor TOT United and Sarawak United. Meanwhile, the 2020 newcomers Negeri Sembilan, KPT-PST Mustangs, Sarawak and Kelantan will hope Covid-19 won’t derail their season again after only just playing one competitive game since their entry as these teams will look to rattle the 2019 line-up.

Because there are so many teams, they will have to be split into two groups to lessen the workload of a team having to play everyone. The men’s league has ten teams in each group while the women’s have six in each. The draw for the women’s category was a free draw. Meaning there are no restrictions and anyone can go in either of the two groups. For the men’s, it’s different. The top 4 teams of the 2019 season (Defending champs Selangor MAC, Pahang Rangers, Terengganu and Perak) will be split with two of them in each group. The same is said for the East Malaysian teams of Sabah, Sarawak, Sarawak United and the university team of KPT-PST Mustangs. As for the rest, anyone can be drawn into any group.

Even though it was a free draw in the women’s category, it seems we are quelled of all intriguing narrative derbies with Sabah/Sarawak, MBSJ/MBPJ and Kuala Lumpur/Kuala Lumpur Prefer all are separated into different groups.

As for the men’s draw, just one glance will tell which of the two groups will be the feistier. Not only the top two of 2019, which was champs, Selangor and runner-up Pahang Rangers FC are in the same group, but Selangor will also find themselves into two Klang Valley derby battles with Kuala Lumpur and KL City FC while Sabah will contend with Sarawak United for a Borneo clash. Though we will see a newcomer (Regardless of whether they joined in 2020 or 2021) advancing into the knockout stage from group A considering there are only three teams from the 2019 season in that group. The question is who?

Both categories will have a knockout format once all group matches concluded with presumably the top 4 teams from each group advancing. While it seems the women’s group can afford a little bit of error given there’s only six in each group, the same cannot be said about the men’s category considering how big the field is. Even so, both categories have their fair share of reasons why they are exciting in their own right.

Other than the expansion of the league, the MPFL has crucially retained their sponsorships from the ill-fated 2020 season with Yoodoo, Astro, 100 Plus, Joma, Kaki Jersi and Firefly all continuing their support while the healthy home appliance brand, CUCKOO will be the main sponsor of the MPFL.

With a bigger group of teams vying to become the men’s and women’s champions, there’s no telling what might happen this season. What do you think of the draw and who do you think will come out on top in both categories? There are surely exciting times ahead for the new MPFL season!