Athletes welfare, counselling priority

Friday, January 10, 2014 - The Malay Mail

NATIONAL wushu champion Mohd Meeraj Omar’s need for funds to settle hospital bills for his deceased mother was so great that it was brought to the attention of the media. Fortunately for him, generous Malaysians responded positively to his plight.
Meeraj had gone for a competition in China in the hope of winning the prize money to pay his mother’s hospital bills that had risen to RM90,000. His mother, a diabetic, had undergone an appendectomy at a specialist centre last month. Sadly, her wound became infected and the single mother passed away on Jan 3.
But why did a national exponent, who has brought honours to the nation, have to resort to the media to seek funds? This was what a doctor friend of mine from Sabah, who has been involved with national athletes, asked me.
She also wanted to know why did Meeraj’s mother went to a private hospital when there are so many government hospitals with top class facilities and doctors.
Probably, Meeraj wanted the best for his mother.
Her all-important question was: “Why didn’t anyone advise the athlete when he was facing these problems?”
Indeed, where were the Wushu Association and the National Sports Council (NSC), which has a welfare department, when Meeraj was facing such a dilemma?
The convenient answer would probably be that the athlete did not come forward with his problem.
Does this mean there is poor communication between the officials and athletes?
We boast of having top-class supporting staff for our athletes.
But are they just for pre-competitions and competitions?
Basically, the majority of athletes — unless you are in the top league — are on their own.
They are assets to their respective sports associations as long as they can perform. Once they are injured or show a drop in form, more often than not, they are left to fend for themselves.
When the athletes encounter social or domestic problems, they do not know who to turn to. No wonder they appeal to the media!
It becomes an embarrassment to the respective sports associations when the problems of their athletes are highlighted in the media, but who is to blame for it?
Meeraj has, so far, received RM14,000 in donations, including RM10,000 from an anonymous donor and RM2,000 from a retiree.
The Malaysian Wushu Federation (MWF) has started a fund-raiser while the NSC has promised to offer Meeraj some assistance.
Don’t the sports associations set aside some funds for such situations? The NSC has a welfare department and assistance should be readily available. So why make promises?
While sport is said to be on the national agenda and billions of ringgit are spent on it, it is disheartening that the welfare of athletes is still back-burnered.
Sports associations must not forget that they exist because of their athletes, although they will say the opposite is true. This is debatable, but for sport to progress, sports associations and athletes need each other and the welfare of the latter must take top priority.
All we have to do is to look at past athletes who had brought honour to the nation in their heyday living in poverty, distress or illness with little or no help coming forth.
Yes, we have Yakeb (Yayasan Kebajikan Atlet Kebangsaan/Welfare Foundation for National Athletes), but there is only so much they can do. National sports associations must have their own welfare and counselling units for their athletes.
Here’s hoping for better treatment of athletes — both present and past — and not hearing of athletes turning to the media for help.
TONY MARIADASS is sports editor of
The Malay Mail. He can be reached at
tonym@mmail.com.my Twitter handle:
@tmariadass

Move forward or be doomed

Friday, January 03, 2014 - The Malay Mail

by Tony Mariadass

ANOTHER new year has been ushered in and at the rate time flies, before you know it, we will be ushering in another new year.

The point is, there is no time to waste these days. One has to keep up with the fast pace of life or be left behind.

It is no different for sports, which is progressing at lightning speed and true to the Olympic motto of ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’, sports standards have risen with each passing year.

While the majority of sports personalities have worked hard to improve their standard, there are some who resort to shortcuts, using performance enhancing drugs, but they eventually get caught and punished.

In Malaysia, though, we are still battling to make an impact at regional level. However, the money allocated to sports — for ultra-modern facilities and expertise — is second to none.

This year is going to be a busy one for sports, culminating in the Olympics in Brazil in 2016.

Among the international events Malaysia will feature in this year are the XX Commonwealth Games (July 23 — Aug 3, Glasgow, Scotland), 2nd Youth Olympic Games (Aug 16 - 28, Nanjing, China), 17th Asian Games (Sept 19 to Oct 4, Incheon, South Korea) and 4th Asian Beach Games (Nov 14 -23, Phuket, Thailand).

These are besides the individual international events for sports like badminton, squash, swimming, archery, athletics, cycling, billiards and snooker, to name a few.

But it is the Games — Commonwealth and Asian — that will be used to gauge the overall standard of Malaysian sports.

While in individual sports the likes of Lee Chong Wei, Nicol David and Pandelela Rinong are expected to carry on Malaysia’s challenge — although Chong Wei and Nicol could be feeling their age — elsewhere, we will scrapping the bottom of the barrel for new champions.

The archers have given new hope lately and are certainly a breath of fresh air in Malaysian sports while the hockey fraternity has been improving and hopefully will rise to the occasion and give us something to shout about. Squash has a few upcoming players while motorcycling is showing some promise and of course the divers raised the bar each time they compete. The bowling community continues to deliver with its proper administration and development programme.

But generally, most of the sports are expected to continue to disappoint.

Just look at Malaysia’s performance at the recently concluded Sea Games in Myanmar — a regional affair. It gives an indication of what to expect at higher level competitions.

Yes, we met the 40 gold medal target — many of which came from subjective sports and from low level performance. But at Asian and Commonwealth Games level, this will mean nothing.

Have preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games been ongoing since the last Games four years ago? Yes and no. While the core sports have their continuous training programmes, many other sports have been in hibernation.

How much of preparations have been made by the national sports associations (NSAs) is a million-ringgit question.

Depending solely on the National Sports Council (NSC) will not help Malaysian sports reach new heights. Yes, the funds come from NSC, but the NSAs have to be equally committed, raise their own funds and have their own programmes.

Starting preparations six months before the Games is not going to help. In fact, overseas trips, hiring foreign coaches, holding camps and so on is just money down the drain.

Until and when the NSAs come to terms with the fact that they have to work allyear-round on long-term programmes, nothing is going to work for Malaysian sports.

Sports like athletics, swimming, sepak takraw, football and even badminton have to double their efforts to regain their past glory.

Infighting among officials, the power struggle to hold office and personal agendas all have to stop. We need dedicated officials and more exathletes to return to head or be part of their associations to steer them in the right direction.

But then again, we also see ex-athletes who become officials quickly change and become a part of the system to survive. They then neglect the welfare of the athletes and progress of the sports.

More associations need to take their cue from Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who set up the National Football Development Programme (NFDP), which is a long-term development programme to see Malaysia qualify for the Under-17 World Cup in 2019.

We need more programmes like this for other sports. It is about time we stopped thinking of plans today and expecting results yesterday! It does not work that way.

Proper programmes with the right people helming and managing them professionally with long-term plans is the only way forward for Malaysian sports.

Every time we return from a Games, we come up with postmortems and plans to rectify the situation, but more often than not, these reports remain in the filing cabinets gathering dust.

This has to stop and if we are really serious about sports, let’s go back to basics. This is going to take time, patience, passion, dedication and determination, but this is the only answer to the woes of Malaysian sports.

Otherwise, we will continue to sing the same tune that Malaysian sports is ailing as we usher in a new year until kingdom come.

Happy New Year. 

TONY MARIADASS is sports editor of The Malay Mail. He can be reached at tonym@ mmail.com.my. Twitter handle: @tmariadass

KLFA must be made to pay

Level Field - 27th Dec, 2013

By TONY MARIADASS

tonym@mmail.com.my - The Malay Mail

’TIS the season to be jolly, but not as far as Kuala Lumpur FA is concerned. It is staring at a bleak 2014.

However, the officialdom at KLFA is oblivious of what it has done to the association and is still sitting pretty in office without a tinge of sadness or remorse.

Kuala Lumpur has a shorter but proud history in the annals of Malaysian football. Having only made its debut in the M-League in 1979 after the association was formed in 1974, it worked its way up from minnows to the kingpin of Malaysian football. But now, for the new season, it has plumbed new depths - club-level football, the third tier of the FAM League.

More humiliatingly, the association has been rocked by match-fixing allegations over the last two years. Last week saw its foreign coach for the season, its team manager, an official and five players banned for life from football and fined RM20,000 for match-fixing by the FA of Malaysia.

Another seven players are expected to be hauled up today and could well face similar action.

While it is commendable that the FA of Malaysia is serious about match-fixing, what sanctions has it meted out to KLFA? KL’s President Cup team was up to no good last season, but KLFA chose to turn a blind eye. And it put the KL team at further risk of match-fixing speculation when it enlisted a new sponsor for the 2013 season - Rising Sun Travel & Tours, which did not fully fulfil its sponsorship obligations.

What’s puzzling is that KLFA let the sponsor have a say in the hiring of the coach and players and even in managing the team when it is clearly stated by the FA of Malaysia that the team must be managed by the association.

When asked if late payment of salaries was the reason the players turned to bookies, KLFA secretary general Nokman Mustapha insisted that it was not. He claimed that KLFA paid its portion of the salaries, but the sponsor defaulted.

But the players sign contracts with the association, which makes it fully responsible for their salaries, not the sponsor.

According to Nokman, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had asked to observe the KL team early this season and KLFA had given its blessing to the investigation. So, KLFA knew something was amiss, but did nothing about it, including curtailing the powers of the sponsor.

It is fine to punish the guilty players, but shouldn’t KLFA president Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz and his council also be blamed for the fiasco? The honourable thing to do would be to resign en bloc. Or the FA of Malaysia should punish them for their part in bringing the game to disrepute.

All the hard work former KLFA president and mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Tan Sri Elyas Omar, put in to raise the standard of city football has been undone. The efforts of founder members like Datuk K. Rasalingam (the then secretary) and Goh Ah Chai (the then treasurer) have all gone to waste.

To call KLFA poor would be a misstatement. With the assistance of KL City Hall, it has a home to call its own - the Bandar Tun Razak Stadium. KLFA manages the stadium and only pays booking fees to City Hall. Maintenance of the stadium is shouldered by City Hall. KLFA also get financial aid from City Hall.

However, the KLFA-City Hall relationship hit a snag. As a result, the field in the stadium was neglected and the FA of Malaysia would not allow KLFA’s M-League matches to be held there last season. The matches had to be played in Malacca.

Soon, KLFA will be without a home because City Hall intends to close the stadium for two years for renovations. The association is said to be negotiating with the latter for an alternative office space.

Lest we forget, Elyas had acquired eight hectares in Taman Melawati for KLFA. The land was recently given to a company to develop in exchange for building the KLFA Academy Football Centre on 3.28 hectares of it. But work on the academy was unsatisfactory and after much deliberation and restoration, KLFA decided that it would privatise the academy. The Ministry of Sports assisted by turfing the pitch.

A private entity currently manages the academy, which boasts a gymnasium, hostel and cafeteria, among other facilities. In return, KLFA got 10 per cent of the booking fees a month and now gets 30 per cent.

The sad fact is that KLFA’s teams do not get a chance to train at the academy. It is also learnt that the developer had given KLFA a condominium but whether there are any returns from the property is unclear.

Then, there is revenue from billboards also acquired during Elyas’ tenure, and surely KLFA can manage better with all this income.

Today, a personal assistant of Astaman, who was initially brought in as liaison officer and was not supposed to cost KLFA any money, is the assistant secretary with a paid salary and calls all the shots in KLFA. She has also found a place on FAM’s media committee.

Certainly, a great deal of things are not right with KLFA and need to be addressed immediately.

The people who have brought KLFA to its knees need to pay for their sins. KLFA is not going to look good by punishing teenagers when the elders themselves are guilty of wrongdoing.

TONY MARIADASS is sports editor of
The Malay Mail. He can be reached at
tonym@mmail.com.my

Twitter handle: @tmariadass

Sports as a national agenda

Friday, December 20, 2013 - The Malay Mail

GREAT development plans are being put in place or plans are underway for football, hockey and sepak takraw, thanks to the vision of Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
And for once we are not talking about short-term or ‘jumpstart’ programmes, but longterm ones leading into 2020. This is not just talk. The National Football Development Programme is already in motion.
With the recent Junior World Cup hockey team’s fourth place in New Delhi, a long-term programme for hockey, looking at the 2016 Junior World Cup and 2020 World Cup, is also expected to get underway.
Then with the continued dismal performance of sepak takraw, a similar long-term programme but with a different approach is also in the pipeline.
If these programmes are carried out in all seriousness and with the right people at the helm, the future looks bright.
My only concern is what will happen to all these programmes when Khairy is no longer the sports minister. Will they get buried as soon as the sports minister vacates his seat?
We have seen it happen time and again as every new sports minister who takes office wants to leave behind his or her own legacy or trademark. And in all fairness to many of the past sports ministers, several great programmes were launched, but sadly once they left office, these were shelved.
Millions of ringgit have been spent on past programmes, from talent identification and sports culture to mini-stadiums in every parliamentary constituency and grassroots development.
But sadly, there has not been proper follow through after the respective tenure of the ministers.
But Khairy has gone a step further to ensure that the programme he has initiated does not end up the same way.
He is proposing to make the NDFP a national agenda and get the cabinet’s approval to make it a national policy so that there is continuity and its full potential is realised even if he is no longer in the sports ministry to steer it.
It is hoped similar plans are also made for hockey and sepak takraw.
I am not being pessimistic, but even the Cabinet Committee for Sports Development, whose members included 15 Cabinet ministers and was chaired by the then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, no longer exists.
What was seen as a fast track to developing sports with the involvement of all the relevant ministries and headed by the DPM himself has been derailed.
So I am wondering if Khairy’s proposal to make his plan a national agenda will bear fruit.
I seriously hope so because Malaysian sport needs strong foundations with long-term planning. And if this is not going to be put in place now, we are going to continue to face disappointment after disappointment in the coming years as other nations continue to progress and leave us far behind.
That is why I have always wished that the sports and education ministers were long-term appointments or held by nonpoliticians.
But I suppose that is wishful thinking and for now Khairy’s national agenda looks the best bet.
The National Sports Policy introduced in 1988 by Najib when he was the minister of culture, youth and sports was supposed to drive Malaysian sports, but there have been several calls to revisit the policy and make it more relevant.
The National Sports Council (NSC) is supposed to be the financier of sports in the country, but then again, their policies also vary with each new sports minister and sometimes they go overboard with their own visions and policies.
There is no denying that a policy to streamline sports development on a long-term basis has to be in place and followed through no matter who helms the sports ministry or the NSC.
And the sooner this happens, the brighter the future.

TONY MARIADASS is sports editor of
The Malay Mail. He can be reached at
tonym@mmail.com

How low can we go?

Monday, December 16, 2013 - The Malay Mail

ENOUGH is enough. The Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia (STAM), headed by Datuk Ahmad Ismail (pic) , will have to once and for all take responsibility for the continuous rot in the game.

The latest debacle was at the Myanmar Sea Games on Friday where the men’s sepak takraw team picked up a bronze medal after finishing last and failing to win a match. It is indeed embarrassing for a nation who were kingpins of the game not too long ago.
Malaysia ended the four-team round robin competition with a 2-1 defeat to Indonesia, lost to host Myanmar 2-1 and Thailand 3-0.
Sepak takraw was introduced by Malaysia and we once ruled the sport. Now Thailand rule, with Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and even Myanmar taking us to the cleaners.
The current state and status of the sport did not arrive overnight. In fact, the writing has been on the wall for the last five to six years, but STAM seem to be in denial.
Sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin had taken STAM to task two months ago after the team’s loss to South Korea in the ISTAF Super Series leg in India and threatened to stop their RM1 million allocation per year.
But Ismail is immune to threats, as it had happened during previous sport minister’s terms and when National Sports Council (NSC) took a firm stand to cut financial aid, he accused them of not supporting the sport.
Ahmad is known for his controversial actions and remarks made in the fields of politics, business and sports. He normally has his way in the end and with new promises and plans, he continues to stay afloat.
However, the sport is the loser because it has hardly shown much progress.
Maybe Ahmad simply has too much on his plate to give his full-time attention to revive the sport.
But plans, Ahmad has many. Like pursuing to get an allocation of RM8.8 million to run a development programme for 17 months which was supposed to have been started in August.
When Malaysia are struggling to save their reputation, STAM are more interested in hosting the World Cup which they did two years ago.
Money spent on organising the world tournament, could be better used for the development and promotion of the game with the future in mind.
STAM have to seriously look at the sport and determine whether it enjoys popularity among the masses.
Is sepak takraw still played passionately every evening until failing light in the kampungs, districts and schools? Are there development programmes in place? Are the state associations doing enough to develop young talent? Are there enough coaches to coach the young? Are there enough or even any talent-scouts going the length and breadth of the nation to scout for fresh talent? Are the players passionate about the game and above all disciplined, determined and dedicated to excel in the game? These are questions that need to be answered urgently and with immediate solutions coming forth.
The last thing we need is to be still struggling by the time Malaysia host the Sea Games in 2017 and to face the embarrassment of losing to minnows in our own backyard.

Winning ... losing for solidarity

Friday, December 13, 2013 The Malay Mail

by Tony Mariadass

NATIONAL Sports Council director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong has expressed dissatisfaction at biased judging in the 27th Sea Games' wushu competition that ended on Tuesday. He claimed that Malaysia were robbed of several gold medals.
Zolkples should not have feigned ignorance because biased judging had been prevalent in previous Sea Games. It usually happens in events where the points for performance are given at the judges’ discretion.
Although there are certain criteria which the judges have to follow in awarding the points, at the end of the day, they are the 'lords' and the results cannot be disputed.
Zolkples said he was puzzled why the judges did not favour Malaysia, although the medals were evenly distributed among the participating countries.
"I am baffled as to how all the countries obtained at least one gold medal. If a certain country deserved to win, it should have been awarded the medal.
The medals should not have been distributed evenly," he was quoted as saying in Naypyitaw.
The national wushu squad ended their challenge with three gold medals, which were won by Diano Bong Siong Lin, Phoon Eyin and Tai Cheau Xuen.
The team achieved the Sports Ministry's target of three gold medals while the association had targeted five. Obviously, when the ministry set the target, it would have taken into account gold medals that would be lost in the name of solidarity.
A total of 23 gold medals were at stake in the wushu competition. But it is the norm to distribute them among the participating countries to ensure these countries support the inclusion of the sport in the next biennial series.
There has been this unwritten ‘understanding’ ever since wushu was included in the Games. Karate, taekwondo and other traditional events have a similar arrangement
I still remember when the Malaysian karate team, who were the favourites to pick up a few gold medals at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, had nothing to show after four days of competition.
When I asked the team official what was happening and if Malaysia would win a gold medal at all, he answered: “It is not our day yet.”
When pressed for an explanation, he said: “I will let you know when we are going to win the gold medal.”
Sure enough, in the last few days of the competition, he said: “We will win the gold medal today and maybe even two.”
Malaysia went on to win two gold medals in the kumite light category through M. Chandran (55kg) and M. Rajoo (70kg).
While I was interviewing the exponents, the said official, grinning from ear to ear, remarked: “I told you we would win gold medals today. Today is our day."
Then he added: "We cannot afford to have one or two nations dominate an event like ours. Then, the others will lose interest in the sport and will not support it for the next Games.
We distribute the medals so that everyone is happy.” So much for fair play in sports!
Biased judging will continue to surface in subjective events unless the Sea Games Federation (SGF) take a firm stand and weed them out. Otherwise, this will be part and parcel of the Games in the name of solidarity.
Maybe, the SGF should consider holding a separate tournament for indoor games and call it the ‘Family Games’.
This way, the medals won by measurable sports on merit — distances and times — will not be diluted by medals raked from subjective sports.

Let the Games continue

Friday, December 06, THE MALAY MAIL

CONTRARY to general consensus that the Sea Games have outlived its importance and needs to be revisited, the biennial Games — which was inaugurated in 1959 as the Seap Games — is still very much relevant.
Myanmar host the Games again after 44 years from Dec 11 to 22, although it began unofficially yesterday. The country's new capital Naypyitaw is the main venue for the Games while events will also be held in Yangon, Mandalay and Ngwe Saung Beach.
Although things are expected to be chaotic in Myanmar as they attempt to shine in the international arena just two years after the end of military rule and the lifting of Western sanctions, the Games will go on in the true spirit of sport and the people of Myanmar are likely to get pats on their backs.
It was no different when Brunei, Vietnam and Laos hosted the Games for the first time in 1999, 2003 and 2009 respectively when they were faced with many uphill tasks, but managed to pull through in the end.
Even experienced hosts like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia had had teething problems whenever they hosted the Games.
Trust me I know. I covered 12 consecutive Games from 1983 in Singapore to 2005 in Manila and every Games had its own problems. But it was a great experience soaking in the electrifying atmosphere of the Games, something money cannot buy. These are memories I will treasure for life.
The point here is that the Games help Southeast Asian countries, athletes and officials in many ways. For example, the managerial skills gained from hosting the Games prove invaluable to local sports officials when preparing for bigger international events while home athletes gain a platform to shine and achieve higher targets.
Some may argue that the Sea Games has lost its importance because many nations have already established themselves as leaders in sports and their athletes have attained high standards in the international field.
That may be so, but the Games can still be used to groom young athletes. The argument to hold the Sea Games for just under-23 athletes may hold water, but we need to look at the big picture. Yes, football in the Games is already confined to the under-23 as the sport has grown tremendously. But the same cannot be said of all sports, especially athletics.
Besides, there are enough events to expose young talent, from the Asean Schools Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, Asian Youth Games and Youth Olympics to the youth and school championships for the respective sports.
In any case, it is up to the nations or national associations of sports whether they want to send seasoned athletes or development athletes to the Games, depending on the status of the sports concerned
Although at times some host countries have too many sports and include traditional events to ensure they win extra medals for the overall tally, generally all sports included in the Sea Games are either Olympic events or those competed at the Asian or Commonwealth Games.
Statistics show that in the last seven Games, 28 Olympic sports were part of the Sea Games. And with the exception of the 1999 Brunei Games and 2009 Laos Games, there have been an average of 22 Olympic sports in the Sea Games. Of the 28 Olympic sports, 24 were included in four or more in the past seven Games.
As for non-Olympic sports, 13 were added in four or more Games to a total of 28 sports in the last seven Games. But these sports, such as billiards and snooker, tenpin bowling, karate, sepak takraw, bodybuilding, lawn bowls, squash and wushu, were also competed in the Asian or Commonwealth Games.
Thus, to say that the sports competed in the Sea Games do not serve any purpose is totally wrong.
Other areas where the Sea Games provide a training ground include media (television production), marketing, Games technology, sponsorship, merchandising and security, to name but a few.
Of the five regional Games in Asia, namely East Asia, Sea, Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia, the Sea Games is ranked second and its athletes have gone on to win Asian and Olympic medals.
Thus, with the Sea Games serving as a foundation for the ultimate goal of being the best in Asia and the world, it cannot be said that it does not serve a purpose or that it is irrelevant.
Ask veteran sports official Datuk Sieh Kok Chi — adviser to many nations that host the Sea Games, including Myanmar — and he will tell you how the Games have put Southeast Asian countries on the map over the years.
At the end of the day, how relevant the Games are to a certain sport depends on the sports associations and use it accordingly to send development or seasoned athletes.
But as long as associations do not use the Games as a holiday or biennial reward trip, the Games will continue to be relevant.
Besides, the Sea Games has proved time and again that it bridges political, religious and ethnic diversities.
So let us enjoy it and savour the moments.