Foul!

As published in Sunday Mail today Malaysian badminton fans have been left disappointed for far too long and only by winning the Thomas Cup would renew their faith into the sport, says Tan Sri Elyas Omar. Elyas, who was the Badminton Association of Malaysia president when the nation last won the prestigious tournament in 1992, hoped the national shuttlers would remain composed as they take on Japan in the final at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi, India, at 3pm local time (5.30pm in Malaysia). “Yes, of course (fans have been left disappointed) ... for the past 22 years,” said Elyas, who was also former mayor of Kuala Lumpur. “This is the best chance and I believe they did not even expect to play in the final given the line-up but let’s not put pressure on them, let’s motivate them instead.” Elyas said the players must overcome the pressure and maintain their fighting spirit instead of being jittery on the court. He recalled the motivational words he uttered to former ...

AN  international Olympic university? Doesn’t that sound wonderful? On paper it may seem so. Russian President Vladimir Putin had on Monday declared open the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, while admitting there are "ongoing glitches" in the build-up to next year's Winter Olympics. The varsity runs special training courses for Russian regional sports leaders and aims to educate the nation’s former athletes. Talk of us establishing a similar varsity for athletes cropped up not too long ago — just like the recent 'dream' of Malaysia organising the Olympic Games despite having yet to host the Asian Games and taking more than a decade to close the 1998 Commonwealth Games accounts. Former KL mayor Tan Sri Elyas Omar had in the past drawn up a plan for the nation's first university for athletes but it was shelved. Now, apparently, there is talk of a prominent figure planning to revisit Elyas' blueprint in a bid to set up a...

It is often seen as as a perfect place for high ranking officials to 'retire'. The Sports Commissioner's Office was established on Jan 1, 1998 to act as the guardian for the Sports Development Act 1997. The first sports commissioner was Ahmad Bakri Shabdin, followed by Mahamad Zabri Min, former KL mayor Elyas Omar, Nik Mahmud Nik Yusof and the man who has just retired - Yassin Salleh ( pic ). Ahmad Bakri, Nik and Yassin served as the Youth and Sports Ministry's secretary-general prior playing sports commissioner. So who will best replace Yassin? Former Mailsport journo Rizal Hashim has his candidate as seen on his blog . If we follow precedent, then perhaps the current secretary-general Mohid Mohamed could fill the position. A candidate is expected to be named soon, as reported here . There have been many instances in the past where parties ignore the Sports Development Act and get away easily. Remember the controversial night race ? What about the ne...

I spent some good two hours with former KL lord mayor Elyas Omar ( pic ) recently. We spoke about a wide range of issues - from the development of KL ahead of 2020 to KL's football scene and the future of badminton in the country. Elyas gave the impression the FT ministry is nothing but a pain in the 'butt'. He stressed there is a need for more open spaces in KL and dealing with opposition constituencies is "not a big deal". In sports, he felt hurt when he was snubbed during the BA of Malaysia gala night, sad with the pathetic performance of KL in the Super League (football) and In conjunction of the Federal Territories Day today, The Malay Mail dedicated two full pages for the former Penang Free School student as he touched on KL ( page 8 ) and sports ( page 39 ). Read it here . HD says : It was a good chat sir. Will surely meet up again.

...blame all sports organisations. Why? They have resulted in a system which is just dumb-founding if not ridiculous. Flashback during the KL v Kelantan match at Selayang Stadium last week. Several KL FA officials were lamented they do not get any support from the current KL Mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail. They used to get RM1 million from Ahmad Fuad's predecessors. Let's be reminded then city mayor Elyas Omar gave KLFA money and land. So KLFA has been pampered. They only want handouts. No initiative to run a website, or a blog which is free. No effort. In fact, NST's Devinder Singh has more records on KL for the past two decades than KLFA. What is the return of investment? Oh wait, do they know what is return of investment? It's no different with the BA of Malaysia (BAM). Doubles specialists Fairuzizuan Tazari and Zakry Abdul Latif ( pic L-R ) have left the national badminton team, as reported here . Bernama reported Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Ch...