Commentary
Can the ex-state and
international sports personalities please stop complaining about not being
given due recognition and start involving themselves in effective programmes
that will help elevate sports in this country?
They have set up
several organisations but all they seem interested in are trips, friendly games
and gatherings. So, why continue to gripe that they are not being
utilised in the management of the various sports bodies or as coaches?
True, some of them
are actively coaching but they make many compromises and stray far from their
principles just to keep their jobs, stay in the market or remain in the good
books of the sports associations.
Yet, in their own
circles, they talk about how unfairly they have been treated or how they have
been passed over in favour of less qualified foreigners. Very few of them dare
to air their grievances.
Maybe, these veterans
should take their cue from the Football Coaches Association of Malaysia (FCAM) under current
president B. Sathianathan, which is very vocal and whose views are sought by
the FA of Malaysia.
Established in
1994, FCAM not only takes care of its coaches but also gives voice to issues it
feels strongly about.
At the same time,
there are bodies like the Malaysian Olympian Association (MOA), which has been
de-registered and, under a pro-tem committee, is in the final stage of
re-registering itself.
MOA has about 300
Olympians from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics to the 2012 London Olympics, who can
make a huge difference to sports in Malaysia if they set their mind to it.
Then, we have the
Ex-State and Ex-National Footballers Association of Malaysia, which almost
suffered the same fate as MOA but survived the chop.
Under the
leadership of previous president Lee Soon Huat, it organised a meaningful event
in 2011 – its inaugural 1st Malaysia Day Ex-internationals/State Invitational
Football 9s – to raise funds for the welfare of its members, scholarships for
the children of its members and to organise development programmes and football
clinics.
While the
tournament was a success with eight state teams and four foreign teams from
Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei competing, it died a natural death.
This came as no
surprise as the members of the association hardly assisted in raising funds for
the tournament because it was organised for them, from A to Z, by an events
management company. The tournament, which culminated in a gala dinner for 400
sports personalities, was a success but the association shortchanged the
organiser on fees.
More recently, the said association
had a windfall when Astro, through a golf tournament and the support of
sponsors Hai Soon Holdings, Waz Lian Group of Companies, Huls Engineering
Sdn Bhd, AmBank Bhd and Qi Group of Companies, donated RM200,000 to it.
One would have thought that with such
funds, it would have started some meaningful sports programmes, but, no, the
members were more interested in overseas trips.
Then, we have Friendship, which
was initiated by Bob Vivegandran, a coach from Penang, on WhatsApp
for ex-state and international players and coaches.
Last week, it organised its first
event – a friendly football match against the Perak Menteri Besar’s selection
team in Ipoh. There was a good turnout, including many of the who’s who of
Malaysian football. Sadly, no effort was made to publicise the event. Publicity
would have definitely raised the profile of the group.
Above all, Friendship did
not think of organising a coaching clinic before the start of the friendly
game, which would have been a lifetime experience for many of the youth in
Ipoh. Imagine being coached by prominent past Malaysian players.
This group is very vocal in its chat
space but dare not make its opinions known in public.
As long as we have ex-state and
international players who fear to speak the truth about the state of sports in
this country and who will not fight for their rights or expose foreign coaches
who are taking Malaysians for a ride, they might as well not exist.
To be relevant, they could, for
starters, distribute their member list to the respective sports associations at
state or national level, state schools sports councils or state sports councils
for their services to be fully utilised.
If they became involved in schools,
coaching their respective disciplines, at least we will have strong foundations
at grassroots level.
Of course, these coaches need to be
remunerated, at least for their time and petrol money. But it will be money
well spent with the future of sports in mind.
These experienced ex-international
bodies should seriously consider rendering their services or working closely
with the SportsExcel – the foundation in place for 25 years for Malaysian
sporting excellence in organising junior circuits for 12 sports.
So, the sooner the associations of
our ex-sports personalities got their act together, the better it would be for
Malaysian sports.
It is pointless to lament that they
are being marginalised when they are doing nothing to make an impact.
TONY MARIADASS is a sports
journalist with more than
three decades of experience
and is passionate about
local sports.
He can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com
three decades of experience
and is passionate about
local sports.
He can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com
Twitter: @tmariadass
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