After 16 years of participation in the Malaysian Hockey League, Sapura has decided to stay out of the competition in 2017.
Sapura won the newly introduced knock out tournament this season and had an array of former and present internationals in their line up.
There was talk in the Hockey circles for the past week that Sapura might pull the plug on their participation in the MHL.
But it was eventually confirmed today, the day entries closed for the MHL.
" Sapura has withdrawn," was what MHC Competition Chairman and Deputy President said when contacted,
" MHC was informed of the decision of Sapura's withdrawal today," added Koshy.
The MHL had 6 teams in the Premier Division - KL Hockey Club, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Terengganu Hockey Team, Maybank , UniKKL and Sapura.
The league was to commence in the first week of January.
However with Thunderbolts moving up from Division One, at least 6 teams will see participation in the top division.
The status of SSTMI which also was promoted but appealed to remain in Division One remains unclear as it was promotions was made mandatory and known to all teams at the start of last season.
