By Ajitpal Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Under-23 football team for the Sea Games suffered a premature setback when the plane that was to take them to Laos yesterday aborted its flight.

The reason? The Foreign Affairs Ministry had failed to obtain clearance for the plane to land at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane.

Diplomatic clearance was eventually obtained at 4.30pm but by then it was too late to make the threeand- a-half hour journey because of limited night landing facilities at the airport in Laos.

The team, with officials and coach K. Rajagobal, were scheduled to depart for Laos at 9.30am in a Royal Malaysian Air Force plane from RMAF Subang.

The footballers were left kicking their heels in frustration at the base. After six hours of waiting, the team gave up and cancelled the flight. They are rescheduled to leave for Laos today.

The Malaysian team, who open their Sea Games campaign against Timor Leste tomorrow, was supposed to have their first training session upon arrival in Vientiane yesterday.

Rajagobal said he wanted his players to get used to the pitch condition in Laos two days before match day.

“It (the cancelled flight) may affect the team but I don’t know to what extent. It would have been better if we had left on Monday,” said Rajagobal.

“It is unfortunate that our plans were halted because of the problem of obtaining diplomatic clearance. We just have to accept it and move on.”

Meanwhile, Football Association of Malaysia secretarygeneral Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad said: “We acted about seven days ago, in which the Foreign Affairs Ministry informed their counterparts in Laos.

“There was no reason for Laos to hold up the clearance.

“It was probably a slip-up.

but anyway we have received the diplomatic clearance from Laos this evening (yesterday).

“We cannot fly the team to Laos late in the day as their airport does not have night landing facilities.”