MFL Challenge Cup

The MFL Challenge Cup (Malay: Piala Cabaran MFL), formerly known as the Malaysia Challenge Cup, is a Malaysian football competition held under the auspices of the Malaysian Football League and the Football Association of Malaysia.

History
The tournament was created for the Malaysia Super League and the Malaysia Premier League teams that did not qualify for the Malaysia Cup tournament through their league standings. The idea was mooted by the Football Malaysia in December 2017 as a solution to increase the number of competitive games. Observers such as FourFourTwo Malaysia see benefits of the Challenge Cup; as another chance of silverware for the competitors, maintaining the competitive edge between the participating teams, and as a way to analyze players in their teams in preparation for the next season.

The inaugural tournament was held in 2018, with eight teams divided into 2 groups of four and playing a double round-robin system of games. The winners and runners-up of each group qualify to the knockout round on a home and away basis including the final. The tournament is held concurrently with the Malaysia Cup, with Challenge Cup games mostly played in midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday) as opposed to Malaysia Cup games played on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

Selection of teams
For the 2018 edition, the team that finished last in the Malaysia Super League, and the sixth-placed to twelfth-placed teams in the Malaysia Premier League qualified for the tournament. The selection of teams remained the same for 2019.

From 2020 until 2023 it was not held, mostly due to COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions. FAM announced the competition will return in 2023, featuring 8 teams who are eliminated in the last 16 of the 2023 Malaysia Cup.