The Malaysian newspaper "New Straits Times" highlighted the decision to cancel the UAE league, and confirmed that the decision is in the interest of the Malaysian team, which is preparing to meet its Emirati counterpart next October, in the joint qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup.
The newspaper pointed out that the upcoming meeting in October represents a good opportunity for the Malaysian team to return its loss in front of the UAE by two goals for one goal, especially that "Al Abyad", according to the Malaysian newspaper, will need enough time to rehabilitate the players, after a long period of interruption for the players from playing the matches, Which followed the decision taken last Thursday to cancel the Arab Gulf League.
The New Straits Times also asked about the possibility of the UAE national team gathering and training in a manner that allows players to reach the required readiness before completing qualifications that require high physical loads, especially after canceling the league.
The Malaysian newspaper supported its report, with statements to the Malaysian national team coach, Tan Chang Hui, when he said: "I believe that the UAE federation has other plans for their national team after canceling the local league, as stopping the league or training means the necessity of having a suitable plan to prepare the team," noting that The goal of the Emirates team is to achieve positive results in the upcoming matches. "
He added: "I cannot be sure that canceling the UAE league will be beneficial to us. I think that the Emirates Federation is close to appointing a new coach for the national team, which means there is a preparation plan before the completion of the qualifiers."
The UAE and Malaysian national teams play within the Group V, which includes next to them each of Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, and the UAE team needs to achieve positive results and not to waste any of the points to ensure qualification for the third round, especially as Al-Abyad is currently in fourth place with six points, two points behind Thailand is third, with three points for Malaysia and the group teams behind leaders Vietnam with 11 points, while Indonesia occupies the last place without points.