SUMAREH GOES FROM HERO TO ZERO

FMT

Tony Mariadass

 September 6, 2020

 

Pahang’s national winger, Mohamadou Sumareh, has bit the hand that fed him, proving ungrateful to Pahang FA president Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah, and the player could pay dearly for this.

The Gambia-born 26-year-old has not been training with the Pahang squad for almost a month and is believed to have prematurely terminated his contract with Pahang FA.

He failed to show up for Pahang’s first match against JDT on Aug 28 when the M-League resumed after being suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sumareh is said to have exercised clause 8.7 of his contract which provides for termination of the contract for non-payment of salary. It also allows him to negotiate with any new club and to be released unconditionally to the new club on a free transfer.

Sumareh has been accused of biting the hand that fed him. (Pahang FA Facebook pic)

Pahang FA say they had paid his dues on the agreed date of Aug 26. Several matters remain unclear as both parties have been keeping everything close to their chests but all indications are that this saga is not going to end soon.

Tengku Abdul Rahman, who is Pahang Tengku Muda, told FMT that although there was a delay in payment, everything has been settled with Sumareh.

“I am disappointed with Sumareh for whom we have done a great deal, including getting his Malaysian citizenship,” he said. Sumareh became a citizen in 2018 and Malaysia’s first non-heritage naturalised player.

“It is a clear show of ungratefulness by him and the manner in which he has gone about handling this situation does not portray him as a professional,’’ said Tengku Abdul Rahman.

He said: “We promised to make the delayed payment and we fulfilled our end of the bargain. If he had an issue or wanted to leave for another team, he could have waited to speak to me and left amicably. He chose not to attend training and decided to take things into his own hands.”

Tengku Abdul Rahman is determined not to let Sumareh have things easy in his move to another club.

Tengku Abdul Rahman, who helped get Malaysian citizenship for Sumareh, is disappointed with the player’s unprofessional conduct. (Pahang FA Facebook pic).

“I don’t want him after all he has done and we will do everything to make known his unprofessional conduct to the relevant authorities. We will write to the FA of Malaysia and forward the letter to the Asian Football Confederation and Fifa and let matters take its course from there,” the Pahang FA president said.

There are several twists to Sumareh’s next move.

While there is speculation that Sumareh is moving to Thailand’s Police Tero FC to play in the league which resumes later this month, it is also learnt that Muangthong FC are also pursuing him.

It is learnt that an agent, who is arranging for Sumareh to don Muangthong colours, has contacted the Pahang FA for his International Transfer Certificate and offered US$1 million as transfer fee.

Whether or not Pahang FA agree to the deal is left to be seen. Why is a transfer fee being offered, if Sumareh considers himself free from his contract with Pahang FA using clause 8.7?

It is also believed his Thailand stop is a temporary measure because he cannot move to any M-League team as there is no transfer window this season due to the league being shortened with a one-round affair.

There is also talk that Sumareh will eventually turn out for JDT.

Sumareh could have handled things in a more favourable manner and avoided tarnishing his reputation. Some are even questioning his loyalty to the national team while others are asking if he had surrendered his Gambian passport.

Pahang fans have branded him as unprofessional and ungentlemanly.

None of Pahang’s 35-man squad complained of non-payment of salary, so why did Sumareh have an issue?

Pahang coach Dollah Salleh has been Sumareh’s mentor since he coached the Police team in 2015 before moving to Perlis and then Pahang since 2017. He is equally disappointed.

“I was like a father to him and when he told me he wanted to leave Pahang, I advised him to finish the season since there were only seven more matches left. I told him to talk to Tengku and leave amicably, although his contract with Pahang was until the end of 2021,” said Dollah.

“But he chose to do otherwise and has burned his bridges and hurt people who took good care of him, especially Tengku who has delivered everything promised to him and more.

“I even protected him when he did not turn up for training for a month and told reporters that he was injured.”

Sumareh came to Malaysia when he was 12 years old with his businessman father and they settled here three years later.

A former Maz International School and Segi College student, he had his early training with the Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer academy under Argentine coach and former Kelantan player, Luis Pablo Pozzuto.

He made his debut for Malaysia on October 12, 2018 in a friendly against Sri Lanka, coming on as a substitute and scoring his first international goal in a 4-1 victory. He has since made 19 appearances for the national team and netted six goals.

 

 

BLOG VERSION

First naturalised football player has set a bad example and his integrity is questioned.

 

PAHANG'S national winger Mohamadou Sumareh has bit the hand that fed him when he proved ungrateful to Pahang FA president Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah, the Pahang Tengku Muda and the player could pay dearly for this. 

The 26-year-old Gambia-born, who has not been training with the Pahang squad for almost a month and failed to show up for their first match against JDT last week (Aug 28) when the M-League resumed after being suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is believed to have terminated his contract with Pahang FA prematurely.

Sumareh is said to have exercised his contract’s clause 8.7 which reads:

This contract may be terminated without any effect of any kind (either payment of compensation or imposition of sporting sanctions) if the Player does not receive his salary on more than one occasion. The Player must:

 i.  Having not paid a salary for more than one occasion, the Player shall write a letter to the Club Secretary or Manager expresses his intention to terminate the contract;

ii.  After stating his intention to terminate the contract, the Player has the right to negotiate with any new Club, without having to get permission from the current Club. In such a case, the Club shall release the Player to the New Club and release his transfer certificate (SPN) unconditionally as soon as the contract terminated and no further compensation or transfer fee may apply to new Club.

Pahang FA, however had not responded to Sumareh as they had paid his dues on the agreed date of Aug 26 and also due to Tengku Abdul Rahman not being available.

Although several matters remain unclear as both parties have been keeping everything close to their chests, all indications are that this saga is not going to end soon.

Tengku Abdul Rahman has told FMT that although there was a delay in payment, everything has been settled with Sumareh.

   “I am very disappointed with the attitude of Sumareh for whom we have done a great deal, including getting his Malaysian citizenship,” said Tengku Abdul Rahman.

Sumareh obtained his Malaysian citizenship in 2018 and became the nation's first non-heritage naturalised player.

 "It is a clear show of ungratefulness by him and the manner be which he has gone about handling this situation certainly does not portray him as a professional,'’ added Tengku Abdul Rahman.

“We had promised to make the delayed payment and we fulfilled our end of the bargain. If he had an issue or wanted to leave the team for another, he could have waited to speak to me and left amicably.

“When Matthew Davies was offered to play for JDT, he came to ask me for my advice and I told him since it will benefit his football career playing for the club which had top class facilities, was a formidable team and had ambitions, he can leave if he wants. We let him go without any conditions and neither party has hard feelings.

“However, Sumareh choose not to attend training and decided to take things into his own hands. At this stage I don’t want him too; after all he has done. We will do everything to make sure his unprofessional conduct is known to the relevant authorities.

“We will write to FA of Malaysia and forward the letter to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA. We will let matters take its course from there.”

Tengku Abdul Rahman is determined not to let Sumareh have things easy in his move to another club. And there are many twists to Sumareh’s next move.

While there is speculation that Sumareh is moving to Thailand’s Police Tero FC to play in the league which resumes later this month, it is also learnt that Muangthong FC are also pursuing him.

It is reliably learnt that an agent who is arranging for Sumareh to don Muangthong colours, has contacted the Pahang FA for his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and offered US$1 million as transfer fee.

Whether or not Pahang FA agree to the deal is left to be seen, but why is a transfer fee being offered, if Sumareh considers himself free from his contract with Pahang FA using clause 8.7?

  It is also believed his Thailand stop is a transit stop, as he cannot move to any M-League team as there is no transfer window this season because the league has been shortened with only a one-round affair.

There is also talk that Sumareh will eventually turnout for JDT.

Sumareh could have handled things in a more favourable manner and avoided tarnishing his image and reputation.

There are some who are even questioning his loyalty to the national team, while others are asking if he had really surrendered his Gambian passport.

Pahang fans have branded him as unprofessional and ungentlemanly.

Pahang has a 35-man squad but none of the players had complained of non-payment, so why Sumareh had an issue.

Pahang coach Dollah Salleh, who has been Sumareh’s mentor since the latter coached the Police team in 2015 before moving to Perlis and then Pahang since 2017, is equally disappointed.

“I was like a father to him and when he told me he wanted to leave Pahang, I advised him to finish the season since there were only seven more matches left in the M-League, and then talk to Tengku and leave amicably, although his contract with Pahang was until he end of 2021,” said Dollah.

“But he chose to do otherwise and has burned his bridges and hurt people who took good care of him, especially Tengku who has delivered everything promised to him and more.

“It has just dawned on me that Sumareh has made up his mind to leave Pahang. I even protected him when he did not turn up for training for a month and told reporters that he was injured.”

Sumareh came to Malaysia when he was 12 years old following his father who worked as a businessman and began living here three years later.

Sumareh, a former Maz International School and Segi College student, had his early training when a teenager with the Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer (KLYS) academy under Argentine coach and former Kelantan player, Luis Pablo Pozzuto.

 

He made his debut on 12 October 2018, in a warm-up match against Sri Lanka. In that match, he came on as a substitute and scored his first international goal in a 4-1 victory. He has since made 19 appearances for the national team and netted six goals.

 

Ends.

REUNION SPARKS IDEA TO SET UP TRAINING CENTRE IN KKB

Tony Mariadass

After 30 years three best 800m runners of the 80s, B. Rajkumar, R. Haridas and Samsom Vallabouy, met up for a nostalgic reunion in Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) over the weekend recently.

The trio, together with three other Perak state runners – middle-distance runner David Anthony, Victor Rayapan - long distance runner (1,500m and 5,00m), and hurdler Tamil Chelvam (400m hurdles), who joined the reunion together with former athlete, coach and administrator, M. Latchumanan, at Rajkumar’s chalet resort in KKB.

Tamil is currently the president of the Perak Masters Athletics Association (PMAA), Samson the vice-president and Latchumanan the secretary.

The KKB reunion- from left to right Victor Rayapan Tamil Chelvam M. Latchumanan B. Rajkumar David Anthony R. Haridas and Samson Vallabuoy

“This is a rare gathering after 30 years as we spent time reminiscing the glorious days when middle distance running was so keenly competed and of a high standard. We were a feared lot in the region” said the 58-year-old Haridas, 58, who won the AFT bronze medal in the 800m in 1987 and was a national athlete from 1982 to 1989.

“It was great to spend a day talking about the good old days and catching up with each other’s progress in life.”

All three who had former national middle distance coach, A. Trapadi, handle them, also made a call to him to inform him of their reunion.

Trapadi spoke to all three of them and so happy that the three had kept in touch and wished them all well.

In a text message sent to Rajkumar after the phone call, Trapadi wrote: “Raj, I feel very happy to see all three of you together. Keep the friendship for life. I am proud of you all being successful in athletics and in your chosen career. My regards to both of them. Hope to meet all of you sometime.”

“We will have another gathering soon and will definitely have our coach Trapadi present,” said Rajkumar.

The top 800m runners of the 80s from left Haridas, Rajkumar and Samson

David Anthony said: “This is indeed a rare honour to be among three legends of middle distance runners.

“I used to compete against them in local and State meets and became good friends. But I left after my athletics career to work in Singapore for almost a decade.

“I returned to my hometown in Ipoh after that, but while I meet the others in Ipoh regularly, this is this first time I am meeting Rajkumar, Haridas and Samson together. It was simply great to meet them after all these years and we had a lot of catching up to do.

“I will always remember this day forever.” 

While reminiscing the good old times, all of them unanimously decided they want to give back to the sports and groom middle and long distance runners.

“We have decided that we want to organise a middle-distance runners Kem Bakat (Talent Camp) to select top athletes in view of setting up a permanent training centre,” said Rajkumar the 55-year-old, former Asian champion, who broke the national men’s 800m record by clocking 1:47.37 to win the gold medal in the Asian Track and Field (ATF) Championships in Jakarta in 1985 and is holds the current national record after 35 years.

 “This is the fourth time I am offering to assist to set up a training centre in Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) and I hope this time around MAF will respond and work with us,” said Rajkumar, who was born and bred in this small, quiet and sleepy town.

“KKB is scenic and quiet place ideal for training, has all the facilities and the hilly terrain here is ideal for middle distance training. After all, I was spotted and trained here by coach Trapadi and did well for a small town boy.

“Trapadi, the former national coach is retired now and will be our technical advisor and we have another two IAAF certified coaches to assist, besides all of us, to groom the budding athletes.”

Rajkumar first offered his services and his hostel accommodation, when he revived and organised road relay the inaugural KKB 21km Road Relay in 2016.

He then offered his services again last year, to assist national middle distance runner Savinder Kaur, upon her return from Kenya, where she had gone for a five-week training stint after securing enough funds.

Then, Rajkumar and two other former national athletes Samret Singh (hammer thrower) and Papu Ignatius (long distance runner and former national coach), who shone in the golden days of Malaysian athletics, expressed their interest to set up grassroots centres in KKB, Kuala Lumpur and Penang respectively, and again there was no response from MAF or the National Sports Council (NSC).

“I don’t know why, but athletics officials at national or state are not keen to take up our offer to assist and give back to the sports. I have made offer in my State in Perak, but it has fallen deaf ears,” said the 54-year Samson who has competed set the Sea Games record in 1991 in his second Games and has experience of competing at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, World championship in Tokyo in 1991 and Asian Track and Field championship (ATF) in 1989 and 1991.

“I now assist young athletes through programmes organised by my club - Panthers Athletics Club headed by former national coach K. Jayabalan in Ipoh - and also the PMAA.

“But KKB is an ideal place to set up the training centre and we have decided we will do hope we can get some assistance or collaboration from the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF), National Sports Council (NSC) or even Perak AA MAF.”

Samson who is former national athlete from 1984 to 1991, who is married to former national middle distance star, Josephine Mary, said that although he is based in Ipoh, he is doing some work around KKB and will be staying at least three days a week in KKB.

“Josephine is also keen to assist in the training camp, as she will be here with me too,” said Samson, whose 20-year daughter Shereen is also a national middle distance runner who is currently undergoing her four-year degree in Physical Education at the Winona State University (WSU), Minnesota.

Haridas, who is running a sports shop business for the last 25 years, said he was prepared to come to KKB a few days each week to assist in the training centre.

“I am a self-trained athlete from Mentakab, who started running around on a beaten-up 200m track in the estates. I wasted two years (from 17-years-old to 19) running in long distance events (1,500m and 5,000m),” recalled Haridas.

“Finally, when I tired the 800m for the first time at the Pahang Open meet, I broke the state record and then on went to become a national athlete, where I finally had a coach in Trapadi,” said Haridas.

“Many a talent, especially in middle distance where we find very few athletes these days, have not been discovered or not nurtured to become champions. This is where we hope to play a role and regain the glorious days of middle-distance runners like us,” said Haridas who is known of playing the ‘rabbit’ at the ATF in Jakarta in 1985, where Rajkumar not only won the race, but in record time.

Recalling the race strategy, Haridas said: “Both of us were sub 1:50 runners and had a chance to win. But team manager Dr M. Jegathesan felt that we needed a race strategic to ensure we won the gold medal and felt that Rakjumar had a better chance to win the race. He asked me to run a consistent run to time 50.5 sec for the first 400m to pull the other potential winners in the race.

Newspaper picture of the keen rivalary between Rajkumar and Haridas who won this 800m race at the 1987 MAAU national meet in Kota Kinabalu.

“I was not at all disappointed with the decision because it was decision made for Malaysia to win the gold and I am glad that I played the role.”

Haridas finished the race fourth and went to win the bronze in the following ATF meet 1987.

Rajkumar and his mates, hopes that the MAF, president, Datuk S.M. Muthu, NSC or even Perak AA, will take up his offer to set up a training centre in KKB.

Rajkumar said if the offer is not taken up or support given by the relevant parties, he is just going to look for one or two potential athletes and train them on his own with the hope to make the champions one day.

Ends.

Merdeka Stadium survives test of time and development

By Tony Mariadass

HAPPY 63TH MERDEKA DAY

Grand Old Lady serves as a reminder to the younger generation of the nation's history

 Merdeka Stadium overall view when its capacity was 40,000 pix from visitKL portal

As Malaysia celebrates its 63^rd Independence Day today, Malaysians indeed must feel blessed and be grateful that the historic Merdeka Stadium, which is still standing, bears testimony to Malaya's (as we were then known) 'fight' for freedom from British rule.

Many make the mistake of thinking that Malaya obtained independence at this iconic stadium when in actual fact the Nation was born on the grounds of the Selangor Padang (now known as Dataran Merdeka) at the stroke of midnight on Aug 31,1957, witnessed by thousands of proud Malayans, when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time (signifying an end to British rule and 446 years of colonisation) and the flag of the Federation of Malaya was raised for the first time.

At the Merdeka Stadium the ensuing morning was where the proclamation of independence was held as more than 20,000 witnessed the ceremony which began at 9.30am that Saturday morning.

Today, on land which once stood majestically and known as Coronation Park with its own 9-hole golf course, the Merdeka Stadium took shape, but it is now dwarfed by surrounding sky-scrappers which includes the nearly-completed 118-storey Menara Warisan Merdeka, which when it opens its doors, will be the tallest building in Kuala Lumpur.

Pix by S. Morgan

Currently, the road leading up to this grand stadium is a make-shift, beaten-up cement path running through the construction site – an eye sore not befitting the surroundings of the Grand Old Lady.

But it is hoped that when construction is finally completed next year, the Independence Stadium, will be accorded the respect it deserves and will become an iconic landmark, just like Menara Warisan.

Currently, the stadium is still used occasionally for friendly football matches.

To recap on the history of the Stadium Merdeka – it was constructed in record time with the first piece of earthworks starting on 25 September 1956 and the last stone laid on 21 August 1957. The stadium was designed by architect Stanley Edward Jewkes.

It was on Sept 18,1955 when Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, then Chief Minister of Malaya, announced that arrangements were being made for the construction of a million-dollar sports stadium.

That this historic and sacred landmark could have been reduced to ashes in the name of development in 2001, is beyond imagination. But thanks to Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) and their then chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid’s concerted effort made to conserve and preserve the stadium, that it is still standing today.

The stadium and its land were given to a private company - United Engineers Malaysia Berhad (UEM) - which had intended to redevelop the land into a RM 1 billion entertainment and office complex. In exchange, the company was required to build seven other stadiums in other locations. However, the company did not proceed with the redevelopment due to public outcry and the company's financial difficulties due to the 1990s Asian economic crisis.

It was then that PNB took over from UEM.

Ahmad Sarji, widely known for his dedication to preserve history, saw in February 2003 the Merdeka Stadium together with the indoor Stadium Negara (a stone’s throw away) named national heritage buildings by the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry.

 In 2007, Merdeka Stadium underwent restoration to its original 1957 condition as part of Malaysia’s 50th anniversary plans to relive the moment when Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaimed independence there. The restoration was completed by December 2009, and not surprisingly received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific 2008 Award of Excellence for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

With restoration completed, the 45,000-capacity stadium was reduced to 20,000, which meant that several of the upper terrace blocks built over the years were demolished.

The Merdeka Stadium, besides serving as a reminder of our independence, also has a long history of playing host to popular sporting and entertainment events till the mid-90s when the Bukit Jalil National Stadium was built.

It was Tunku's vision which saw the birth of the Merdeka football tournament that soon became a prestigious annual event in Asia. The Asian Youth tournament which followed two years later was also Tunku's brainchild.

Football was the draw-card held at the Merdeka Stadium where Hong Kong were the inaugural winners before Malaya won the next year in 1958.

The Merdeka Stadium also proudly hosted two SEAP (South East Asia Peninsula) Games and two Sea Games (1965, 1971, 1977 and 1989), Merdeka tournaments (from 1957 to 1995), 1975 World Cup hockey semifinals and final and numerous international track and field championships.

It was also the venue for international concerts including the Michael Jackson concert in October 1996, which not surprisingly, filled the 55,000 capacity stadium for two nights. Other international artistes and bands who performed at the Stadium included Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Justine Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, Avril Lavigne, A.R. Rahman, BackStreet Boys, Linkin Park, Kool and the Gang, just to name a few.How can anyone forget Muhammad 'The Greatest' Ali mixing it up with Britain's Joe Bugner over 15 rounds in the ring on July 1,1975?

It was also the FA of Selangor’s home ground for their League and Malaysia Cup campaign from 1957 to 1994.

For me personally, the Merdeka Stadium is part and parcel of my being as I have been associated with it since my 1^st birthday.

My association with the stadium dates back to 1959 when I had my first birthday party thrown by my late parents, at the canteen.

During my school days with St John Institution, I used to run on the bitumen track during our school’s sports day and also played in the 1975 Selangor Schools football final against La Salle Petaling Jaya and won the title.

I watched the 1975 hockey World Cup semifinals and final, from the terraces as a schoolboy.

And from the early 80s when I became a sports journalist, the Merdeka Stadium was my second home as I covered numerous football, track and field events, including the 1989 Sea Games football final which Malaysia won after 12 years of trying beating Singapore 3-1.

I still remember the ‘Fish Head Restaurant’ at the Merdeka Stadium which was a must stop before covering any football match.

Also, I watched numerous concerts at the stadium.

The Merdeka Stadium, with its unblemished character, is without doubt the heart and soul of Malaysian sports, and all national stadiums, are objects of pride with history, which must stand tall always.

The Malaysian flag being hoisted at the Merdeka Stadium

ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET - SCRAMBLE FOR THE OLYMPICS

FMT

Tony Mariadass

 

August 22, 2020 10:00 AM

A scramble among sports officials to be in the Malaysian contingent to the Tokyo Olympics next year is expected to begin soon, even as athletes toil hard to qualify on merit.

Are the interests of athletes given consideration when officials are chosen to accompany the teams?

Will freeloaders be part of Team Malaysia?

In the past, Malaysian teams to the Olympics have included some incompetent officials in the mix, causing despondency among athletes.

The rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games will be held from July 23-Aug 8. Twelve athletes have qualified, but Malaysia is hoping to send a contingent of between 30 and 35.

It is logical that the contingent includes coaches and technical officials, or in some cases parents who have been instrumental in getting their children to qualify, but this is not always the case.

The selection of officials depends on the number of athletes who have qualified, and by the gender of the participants.

The International Olympic Council (IOC) has the final say on officials escorting athletes, the number of which should not exceed 50% of sportspersons in the party.

Malaysian officials are chosen by the national sports association from which an athlete has qualified. The name is submitted to the Olympic Council of Malaysia for endorsement.

Depending on the number of athletes from their sport who have made the grade, the associations usually name a team manager and coach.

If they are allowed only one official, a team manager is sometimes named, and this is where the problem lies – athletes prefer a coach or technical expert.

There have been cases when officials have been rewarded with a trip to the Olympics at the expense of an athlete’s interests.

The 50% quota of officials accompanying athletes has also been abused because accreditation is transferable.

Since most sports are not held at the same time, athletes and officials are only sent to the Games a few days before the start of their events. The IOC allows the accreditation of officials who have returned to be transferred to officials of other sports.

However, the total number of accreditations cannot exceed that allocated to a nation.

At the Rio Olympics in 2016, Malaysia competed in 11 sports, represented by 32 athletes. The contingent included 40 officials.

Besides team managers, coaches and technical experts, officials also included the medical team and secretariat staff, all of whom were billeted in the Games Village.

The National Sports Council and National Sports Institute sent ‘back-up teams’ who operated from outside the Games Village at their own cost.

They provided services to the athletes either where they were or visited the Games Village using day passes.

Then, there have been cases where questionable officials were part of the contingent.

In one case, an athlete convinced OCM to include a technical staff, who played a key role in his qualification, in addition to his coach, although a team manager had been nominated.

An unpleasant encounter involved a manager who had arrived ahead of an athlete and made no effort to meet him and his coach at the airport.

Officials who arrive before their athletes are common because they want to take part in the opening ceremony parade.

At Rio, while all the athletes could take part in the parade, IOC only allowed 14 Malaysian officials

However, since some athletes skipped the opening ceremony owing to events the next day, officials were in full force.

Some officials hardly spent time with the athletes or were not around when needed. Those who had dedicated officials by their side performed well.

It is hoped sports associations will take the interest of athletes at heart and stop rewarding officials to gain votes at their next election.

 

BLOG VERSION

Tony Mariadass Column Aug 22

Officials with integrity and honesty need to accompany athletes to Olympics.

Standfirst: The scramble for officials to join the bandwagon to Olympics will begin soon.

 

Athletes who make it to the Olympics must put in a lot of work to qualify on merit but it's not the same for officials who have carte blanche to jump on the bandwagon.

There have been numerous occasions when the ‘right officials’ have not accompanied the athletes who has qualified for the Olympiad and this nasty habit must stop,

The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for July 24 till Aug 9, 2020, had to be rescheduled to July 23 till Aug 8, 2021 due to deteriorating situation of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide. However, the Games will retain the Tokyo 2020 name.

To date, 12 Malaysian athletes have qualified for the Olympics but Malaysia is hoping to send a contingent of between 30 to 35 to Tokyo. And it's only logical that the athletes’ coach, technical official or in some cases parents who have been instrumental in getting their son/daughter to qualify, are included in the contingent to the Olympics, but this is not always the case.

The number of officials to accompany any athlete in any sport depends on the number of athletes who have qualified and the composition of the athletes’ gender and the number is determined by the International Olympic Council (IOC).

The standard IOC rule in naming officials accompanying athletes will not exceed more than 50 per cent of the total number of the athletes’ contingent.

Malaysian officials who accompany athletes who have qualified is determined by the respective National Sports Association (NSA) and submitted to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) for endorsement.

Under normal circumstances, OCM endorses the officials the NSAs have nominated to accompany the athletes but there have been times when the OCM do question the choice if they find that the official picked to accompany the athletes will not be of any assistance.

But inevitably the OCM will bow to the wishes of the NSAs.

Normally, NSAs, depending on the number of athletes from their sport who have qualified and the number of officials allocated by the IOC, name a team manager and coaches and their allocation of an official if only allocated one, normally a team manager is named.

This is where the problem lies because the athletes will surely prefer their coach or technical personnel to accompany them.

There have been cases when NSA officials have been rewarded with a trip to the Olympics at the expense of a coach or technical person for the athlete.

Although the quota of officials accompanying athletes to an Olympics is supposed to be less than 50 per cent of the number of athletes, it normally exceeds, as the accreditation for officials is transferable.

Since most sports do not compete at the same time or for the whole duration of the Games, athletes and officials are only sent to the Games a few days before the start of their events and return a day after.

The IOC allows the accreditation of officials who have returned to be transferred to officials of other sports by cancelling the earlier accreditation. However, the total number of accreditation at any time cannot exceed the total number allocation to a nation.

For example, for the Rio Olympics in 2016, Malaysia competed in 11 sports and were represented by 32 athletes and 40 officials. 

Officials besides team managers, coaches or technical experts, also include the Medical team and secretariat. The whole contingent is billeted in the Games Village.

Then, we also have the National Sports Council (NSC) and National Sports Institute (NSI) who send additional ‘back-up teams’ who stay outside the Games Village at their own cost and provide services to the athletes either at where they stay or visit the Games Village using ‘day passes’.

There have been cases where the integrity and honesty of officials to serve the athletes have been questioned.

One case was when an athlete pleaded with OCM to include a technical staff who had been part of this team and played a key role in the athlete qualifying for the Games, but had been left out by the NSA.  The athlete had a coach accompanying, but wanted the technical staff. The NSA had listed a team manager instead.

OCM gave in to the request of the athlete in the best interest of the athlete to perform. The team manager also accompanied.

Then, there was an instance when a manager who had arrived ahead of the athlete, made no effort to meet the athlete at the airport and the athlete and his coach arrived early in the morning midway during the Games and were left to fend for themselves and take the common transport to the Games Village.

Obviously the athlete let his disappointment be known to the secretariat at the Games Village upon arrival.

Officials who arrive before their athletes are common because they want to take part in the march past during the opening ceremony.

 For the opening ceremony all competing athletes are allowed for the march-past, but there is a quota for officials determined by the IOC.

For the Rio Games, only 14 officials were allowed. While the full quota for athletes was not taken up, as some skipped the opening ceremony because they were in action the next day, while some had not arrived. But the quota for officials was fully taken up.

Then we have officials who hardly spend time with the athletes or are around when the athletes need them.

Of course there are the dedicated officials who are at the service of their athletes 24 hours and it is not surprising that it is these athletes who perform well.

The race for officials to travel once the final list of qualified athletes has been determined, and it is hoped that NSAs take to heart the welfare and interest of their athletes and not to reward their officials to gain votes for their next election.

Ends.