Likas Stadium Sabahawks home den

New Sabah Times

ALL ENDS WELL … from left, Alijus, Grace One Sdn Bhd’s representative Chan Chuan Sian, Osman, Musa, Lawrence and Yusof during the function yesterday.

KOTA KINABALU: Alijus Hj Sipil sees Kedah, Johor, Sarawak and KL Sime Darby as their main rivals in the Premier League challenge 2013. While not wanting to underestimate the rest, the Sabahawks newly appointed interim team manager, said the four will be among the teams to watch when the new season kicks off on January 7, 2013. Alijus, who is also the Sabah FA Secretary General, said this when met at the Meet-the-Player session, at a leading hotel yesterday.

 Besides the four teams and Sabah, the rest of the 12-team Premier League 2013 are KL SPA Putra Jaya, NS Betaria FC, UiTM FC, Kuala Lumpur, KL Pos Malaysia FC, Police and Perlis. Sabahawks will kick off their challenge by taking on FAM Cup 2012 champions KL SPA Putrajaya FC at home (Jan 7). In a related development, Alijus said that they have named Likas Stadium as their home den.

 He said that despite the Stadium facing a minor facelift, they are convinced it will be ready in time for the opening home game. “We have spoken to the management of the stadium, and we have been assured it will be ready to host our first home match,” said Alijus. According to him, besides the Likas Stadium, they have also named Tawau Mini Stadium as their second option.

He then revealed that the only question mark now is whether Sabah will play their home matches at night or in the evening. “If we meet the FA of Malaysia’s requirements, which stated that the brightness of all of the floodlights at the stadium must be 1000 lux at the minimum, then we will be playing our matches at night, otherwise we will have to play in the evening,” said Alijus, adding that the inspection will be held tonight (last night).