Sunday, June 28, 2020

BUNGLING OFFICIALS WRECKING MALAYSIAN SPORTS MUST GO

FMT

Tony Mariadass



June 26, 2020 7:30 AM

For Malaysian sports to improve, athletes must be treated with respect while officials must display integrity and have a sound knowledge of their tasks.
Some sports officials act indifferently because they have no clue about taking their associations to the next level.
Those with hidden ambitions are ruining sports bodies as they spend most of their time politicking and settling personal conflicts.
The practice of buying votes with money, overseas trips and other attractive perks has seen unqualified people become key office bearers.
While athletes work hard to qualify for international competitions, officials jump on the bandwagon to these meets as a reward for blindly supporting the leadership.
Sadly, sports, athletes and coaches fall victim to the ineptness of these officials.
And worryingly, cases of athletes, coaches and technical staff not getting their wages, allowances or incentives are on the rise.
Such situations are common especially in football, and to a certain degree in athletics and cycling.
Some athletes, not wanting to rock the boat, try to solve their issues by themselves for fear of being victimised if they confront the authorities and end up waiting a long time for their dues.
There have been numerous cases where athletes were paid considerably less than the amount they were promised or had their contracts altered.
It is odd that some of the affected players failed to seek the help of the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia, or the FA of Malaysia’s Status Committee that were established for their welfare.
There is also the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s Athletes Commission whose membership is open to Malaysian representatives at multi-sport games under the jurisdiction of the OCM.
Perhaps, this committee should play a bigger role by assisting distressed athletes.
The current issue of the Malaysia Athletics Federation’s (MAF) non-payment of RM20,000 to national 200m record holder Russell Nasir Taib, who is based in Brisbane, is a case of point.
The money due to Russel is part of the US$25,000 allocated by the International Association of Athletics Federations for development of athletics.
A mock cheque for RM21,000 was presented to Russel at an official dinner in March last year by then MAF president Karim Ibrahim, but to date the sprinter has only been paid RM1,000 for breaking the 200m record.
Russel had earlier that month clocked 20.77s to erase Khairul Hafiz Jantan’s national record of 20.90s set at the 2017 Malaysian Open.
The sprinter of Malaysian-English parentage has spent more than RM100,00 since he started training for Malaysia in 2015, first in Tasmania and now in Brisbane.
While efforts are underway to pay Russel the RM20,000, the events leading up to non-payment could be put down poor communication and management by MAF, and a personality clash between the past and present presidents.
Russel’s management team, Team Taib, has also erred in not getting its information up to date.
For one, they did not know that the National Sports Council (NSC) had included Russel in its Podium Programme from April to December this year, entitling him to RM2,000 per month.
NSC, on the other hand, was accused by Team Taib of not giving them proper information.
Since FMT highlighted Russel’s plight more track and field stars, including Ifran Shamsuddin (discus), Mohamad Iskandar Alwi (pole vault), Andre Anura (long jump) and Jackie Wong (hammer), have claimed they too have not received their promised incentives.
Will other athletes from other sports come forward with similar claims?
Officials who have overstayed their welcome should exit gracefully, and this includes those who are bankrupt of ideas, and politicians and others with vested interests.
They must make way for younger officials with fresh ideas, commitment, sporting background and a sound knowledge of sports.
After all, without athletes, officials will not exist, although they will argue that without them athletes will be lost. This is a typical case of putting the cart before the horse.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.


 BLOG VERSION
Column
Tony Mariadass
GET RID OFF STUMBLING BLOCK OFFICIALS
IF Malaysian sports is to move to the next level and athletes and coaches are to be treated with respect and dignity, sports officials must display a greater degree of integrity, responsibility and have a sound knowledge of the sport they helm.
More often than not, sports officials act and sound like politicians or businessmen and that's because they have to camouflage the fact that they have not got the faintest clue about what their sports association is about, very often have personal agendas, engage in sports politics and the biggest sin of all use their position as an avenue to settle personal conflicts.
And all too common in Malaysian sports is the luring of voting members to join vote for a particular person with cash incentives, the promise of overseas trips and other attractive perks. And sadly its sports, athletes and coaches who fall victim to the inaptness of these officials.
When athletes have to tooth and nail to qualify for international meets, officials in bandwagon go for these meets as a reward from their respective associations.
Cases of sportsmen and women, coaches and technical staff not getting paid their due wages, allowances or incentives is getting to be the norm in Malaysia sports. This is very common in football and to a certain degree in athletics and cycling among others.
Many of these cases are left at the bottom of a stack of files because some sportsmen and women, not wanting to rock the boat, keep silent and try to solve the issues by themselves because they fear being victimised if they confront the proper authorities.
There have been numerous cases where the sportsmen and sportswomen lose out because they are paid considerably less than the amount they were promised or contract altered.

In some sports like football, there is the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM), established to take care of the welfare of players but some still do not report their woes to the PFAM or even to the FA of Malaysia which has a Status Committee to look into matters like these.


We also have the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM)  Athletes Commission which is headed by newly elected president Shalin Zulkifli and whose membership is open to all national athletes who had represented Malaysia at any multi-sports Games under the jurisdiction of OCM.
Maybe this committee needs to play a bigger role into looking into the woes of athletes and act as watchdog for them. Its current role is to collaborate with the National Sports Associations (NSAs), government agencies and International Olympic Council (IOC) for the development and training of athletes, coaches, technical officials and sports administrators for competitive sports, as well as sport for all.
The current issue of the Malaysia Athletics Federation's (MAF) non-payment of RM20,000 to national 200m record holder Russell Taib, who is based in Brisbane, is a strong case of point. The money due to Russel, who is of mixed Malaysian-English parentage, is part of the annual IAAF Olympics Athletics Dividend grant of US$25,000 allocated for various activities including athletics development.
 A mock cheque for RM21,000 was presented to Russel at an official dinner in March last year by then MAF president Karim Ibrahim but to date the sprinter has only been paid RM1,000 for his record feat.
It has been 15 months and efforts by Team Taib (a team of professionals set up to manage the affairs of Russel which includes his mother) to get information on the outstanding amount, has hit a brick wall. One suspects it is a classic case of poor communication by MAF, personality clashes between the past and present presidents of MAF and poor management.
In all fairness, Team Taib has also erred in not getting its information up to date. The National Sports Council (NSC) has included Russel in its podium programme from April to December which entitles him to RM2,000 per month.
  But NSC must shoulder a large part of the blame for failing to share its latest updates when queries were made by Team Taib as the right information was not forthcoming.

Since the highlighting of Russel’s plight more athletes, including Ifran Shamsuddin (discus), Mohamad Iskandar Alwi (pole vault), Andre Anura (long jump) and Jackie Wong (hammer), have come forward and claimed they too have not received their promised incentives, and more are expected to come forward with similar claims. 

This does not augur well for the development of sports in Malaysia in this professional era.
Officials who have overstayed their welcome should exit gracefully and this includes officials who cannot contribute and are bankrupt of ideas, politicians and officials with vested interests and only in it to be involved in sports politics. They must all move over and allow a younger set of officials with newer ideas to take over for the betterment and progress of sports in the country,
 We desperately need a new breed of officials who are sincere, passionate and have sporting backgrounds and knowledge to put Malaysian sports back on track. 
After all, without athletes, officials will not exist, although they will argue that without them athletes will not be able to manage. This is a typical case of putting the cart before the horse!
Ends.

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