PETALING JAYA: When the government announced the movement control order on several states recently, national football coach Tan Cheng Hoe was resigned to the fact that he will not be able to gather his boys for training in January.

However, he has been thrown a lifeline after the Youth and Sports Ministry allowed the footballers to continue with their preparations for the 2022 World Cup-2023 Asian Cup qualification at the National Sports Council (NSC) in Bukit Jalil albeit strict standard operating procedures.