A series of friendly games to increase the rapport between Malaysian and Indonesian football teams will kick off on Sunday when Malaysia Cup champions Negri Sembilan hosts Persebaya at the Paroi Stadium.
Indonesian Premier League club Persebaya, who have already played Malaysian opposition once this season, beating Super League champions Kelantan 4-3 on aggregate in December, will host the return leg in Surabaya on May 2.
Besides Negri and Persebaya, other matches will involve Perak against Semen Padang on April 22 in Ipoh and May 1 in Padang and between FA Cup winners Terengganu and PSM Makassar on June 10 in Kuala Terengganu and July 18 in Makassar.
Organisers Broadway Media are also planning to have Selangor play Arema while Kelantan have also been pencilled in for another match against an opposition to be determined.
The sixth match-up in the series will involve either Sabah, Sarawak or one of the four clubs in the Super League -- Johor FC, T-Team, Felda United and PKNS.
Broadway Media executive chairman Datuk Syed Ahmad Khalid said the series is intended to revive domestic football in Malaysia by getting fans to fill venues when the Indonesian teams come to visit.
"Matches between Malaysian and Indonesian teams always arouse passions and it is not necessary for just English teams to come here to fill up stadiums. We believe that fans want to watch their teams take on Indonesian sides and they will be out in full force," said Syed Ahmad in a recent visit to Balai Berita to announce the planned matches.
"For now we have two ties involving Negri Sembilan and Perak confirmed and while the Terengganu and Selangor matches will be confirmed in due course."
Syed Ahmad added that Broadway Media aim to broadcast all the matches live on Astro Bintang's Channel 141.
"We hope that through this series it will help raise the profile of Malaysian domestic football. A number of teams have expressed interest in playing in this series and we hope to finalise the remaining matches soon," he said.
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