Astro announced on Wednesday a strategic partnership with the Malaysian Football League (MFL) to champion Malaysian football for the next three seasons.

The terms of this wide-ranging new deal sees Astro become the official broadcaster of Liga Malaysia competitions comprising Perlawanan Sumbangsih (Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah), Liga Super, Piala FA and Piala Malaysia from 2023 to 2025, commencing on February 24 with Perlawanan Sumbangsih.

Euan Smith, Group CEO of Astro, said: "We are thrilled to be the official broadcaster for Liga Malaysia, truly cementing our position as the home of sports.

"We have always recognised the importance of sports in nation building, and both Astro and MFL are committed to raising the bar for coverage of local football leagues from live games, behind the scenes training to updates on players and coaches and the latest football news benefitting sports fans across Malaysia."

"Liga Malaysia will further strengthen our local sports offerings, which in addition to our coverage of international sports including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, La Liga, BWF, MotoGP, NBA, UFC, WWE, PGA Golf and majors, the ATP Tours and many more, make Astro the home of sports."

Nicholas John, Head of Sports at Astro, added: "We will put our best talent forward and use our production resources to deliver comprehensive coverage of Liga Malaysia in HD all of which will be streamed live on Astro GO to drive engagement for a league that has gifted players, great teams and passionate followers.

Our coverage will be enriched with exclusive programmes including match analysis by pundits, pre-match press conferences, live training sessions, player access interviews, behind-the-scenes shows match highlights and much more. Exciting on-ground activities will provide the opportunity for fans to experience their favourite sport on another level.

"Astro customers can also look forward to special rewards such as invitations to live games at the stadiums and opportunities to meet the players."

Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan, President of MFL, said: "MFL’s renewed partnership with Astro is a sign that Liga Malaysia is gaining more attraction and will further increase the profile of the league and the clubs that are competing.

“MFL has taken a big step when partnering with Astro, a well-known and respected broadcaster in promoting local football. On behalf of MFL, I am very grateful to Astro for taking this step with us as we believe that with 14 elite teams competing in Liga Super and the creation of Piala MFL (Liga Simpanan) for players under 23 years old through the restructuring of Liga Malaysia, local fans can look forward to more excitement."

According to Stuart Ramalingam, CEO of MFL, the partnership with Astro was formed due to the MFL's belief in the local leading broadcaster being the ideal partner to collaborate in developing Liga Malaysia.

"MFL took a big step last year by announcing the restructuring of Liga Malaysia and we believe Astro is the ideal partner to broadcast more matches in the quality that fans have been looking for. A

"Astro's involvement this time will certainly increase the attraction and awareness of the development of Liga Malaysia and thus increase the commercial value of each match to strengthen the country's football ecosystem to be enjoyed by many parties."