There is growing unease in Malaysia over the friendly between Tottenham Hotspur and a select XI on 27 May because it may disrupt the national team’s preparations for the World Cup qualifiers against East Timor and Palestine. A local supporters’ group called Ultras Malaya have been urging fans to boycott the game at the Shah Alam Stadium as well as a July match with Liverpool.

The Spurs fixture is causing most of the controversy however, as it comes just before the national team, struggling at 166 in Fifa’s rankings, kick off qualification for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup with vital games against East Timor on 11 June and Palestine five days later. There are reports that plans to arrange a friendly with the Philippines were shelved to make way for the game with the north London side.

Alfadli Awaludin, a senior member of the group, told the local media outlet Utusan that the games are not what Malaysian football needs. “The timing is not right,” he was quoted as saying. “We should focus on much more important fixtures like the World Cup qualifying campaign. Why should we focus on games that won’t bring any benefits to us? What if our players get injured during the game against Spurs? Who will play for the World Cup qualifying matches then?”

The group started a twitter hashtag #SayNoToCircusGames that gained some traction among fellow supporters, though there has been plenty of disagreement on social media. The influential president of the Johor Football Association (the governing body of football for the state of Johor in Malaysia), Tunku Ismail Idris ibni Sultan Ibrahim, also voiced his concerns on 8 May in an open letter to the minister of youth and sports, Khairy Jamaluddin.

“This match serves one purpose and one purpose only – the proceeds of this match go to the organisers responsible to bring the team to Malaysia and FAM [Football Association of Malaysia],” Tunku Ismail, also a crown prince of the state of Johor, wrote. “But what benefit does it bring the national team for the World Cup qualifiers?”

The next day, the FAM issued a statement denying that the game was a circus. “The Malaysian selection will meet Tottenham Hotspur and play a friendly match against Hong Kong on June 6 which is an opportunity for Malaysian players to battle against a quality side in tactical and physical aspects,” the statement said, adding that compared to a regular friendly, an exhibition match allowed the coach, Dollah Salleh, to check on more players.

There has been controversy involving English teams in Malaysia before. In 2007, Manchester United, amid a storm of criticism, were forced to cancel a game in Kuala Lumpur that had been planned to take place during the Asian Cup, of which Malaysia was a co-host.