A note to sports officials

Just before we all enjoy the rather long break, here's a note to sports officials in the country.

Most of you are incompetent. Instead of just accepting that fact, please strive to do something about it.

Talking from the outside is easy, as some of you might say. Perhaps. But then again, certain decisions made by you certainly defies logic.

You have the likes of Rizal Hashim and SS Dhaliwal commenting about the scene constantly, not forgetting our mainstream Media friends. Yet Rizal is currently facing the wrath for speaking about playing ON TIME.

Dhaliwal is often accused of being "personal" in his writings although his current critical writings on the national hockey scene should not be taken for granted.

Rest assured, you don't need to pay us RM6 million or beyond for FREE advice.

A quick chat with journos will reveal most major newspapers no longer carry results and highlights of the M-League in their first edition. Only in their second edition. Second editions are usually distributed to a smaller area - usually in the Klang Valley alone.

TV crew, meanwhile, can only update the results over the phone for their late night news. The clips of the match will only be aired the following day.

Some of us do not mind sitting with the fans or at the stairway but what pisses many off is the fact the Wifi never seems to be stable.

Then you have matches rescheduled all the time. It also happened in the Malaysian Junior Hockey League.

Oh, occasionally you get emails issued a day earlier informing about an important meeting - do you think the Malaysian sports scene only consist of your organisation?

How do you expect your tournaments to be sponsor friendly?

If you believe the Media has been sidelining you, go set up a blog, facebook page and twitter account and zero in on your followers. All social media mentioned above are FREE by the way.

It is also mind boggling that playing early is never an issue when it comes to playing in Singapore or when we host English teams for exhibition matches in the country. Strange.

Middle eastern teams start their matches early. The Qatar Stars League fixtures are set at 4.15pm and 6.15pm as seen here. I rest my case.

The insurance policies of our footballers were overlooked. How can that happen?

Here's the reality. State FAs have their grants slashed for insurance prior the season but had to fork out money when their players are admitted as the insurance scheme only took effect in April 2010. When the reimbursement is made by the insurance company, it was made to the name of the injured footballer or official and not the FA. So siapa yang rugi?

Typically, it has been swept under the carpet. I'm amazed.

Then we have ego issues.

We have high ranking officials throwing tantrums in their offices, kicking tables and bags. Oh you know you who are. And you should be ashamed of yourself for displaying such conduct. Not professional la....

The ego issue also extends beyond getting the right people for the job. To further strengthen one's grip in office, you tend to get your cronies. It doesn't matter if that person is good enough or comes with no credentials. All you need are puppets, the more the merrier eh.

Instead of taking note of their critics, we get officials who become ULTRA DEFENSIVE. Kuat merajuk pulak. No class lah.

And stop with this pei min (give face in Cantonese) attitude lah. In front of each other you all are so nice, sempat bro bro lagi. But when your backs face each other, hmph, bukan main mengumpat lagi. Be transparent about your principals and believes (if you have any that is).

As we usher the year of the water dragon, remember that you are here to SERVE Malaysian sports and not the other way around. You respect people, people will respect you.

HD says: Looking forward to ushering CNY!