SABAH withdrew from the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League (JHL) just three days before the tournament starts, blaming it on their Education Department.
The JHL saw a record 28 teams registering, and Sabah’s no show has thrown the Division Two Group A tournament fixtures into turmoil.
They were supposed to start their JHL campaign against PHA-Anderson Juniors at the National hockey Stadium this Friday.
“We are unable to field a team as the Sabah Education Department has rejected our request to field school boys in the JHL,” said Sabah HA Secretary Aftar Singh.
“It is not easy for teams from East Malaysia to play in the JHL as there are also logistics issues, like arranging for the players to attend classes while away.
“We regret the decision to withdraw and understand that the MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation) can take action against us, but we ask for understanding as this is beyond our control.
“There are limited players in Sabah and try as we did, we just could not find replacements as we received the no tification from the Education Department today (yester day).”
Sabah became the Division Two champions in their maiden JHL appearance in 2010. Then, they were based in Pan damaran, Klang.
However, they did not field a side for the last two years. Division Two will now have nine teams in Group A and 10 teams in Group B.
There are eight teams in Division One.
