Foul!

Duit poket lebih kurang 5 euro (RM23) sehari dikatakan menjadi punca beberapa pemain diketuai penyerang Faizal Saari berasa tawar hati untuk terus menyarung jersi skuad hoki negara selepas hanya menerima sejumlah RM500 bagi kunjungan ke Piala Dunia di The Hague, Belanda dua bulan lalu. That was taken from the backpage of Harian Metro today. If true: 1. Who and/or which organisation was involved in allocating and/or handing out funds to the hockey players? 2. Who determined the figure of RM500 and on what basis? 3. Why was it right to send selected officials (with their air tickets fully sponsored) to Holland during the same duration instead of allocating the same funds to the athletes? 4. What has been done to address the brewing problems within the national hockey team? 5. What is the finding of a team that has been assigned to look into the "issues faced (if any)" within the national hockey team? 6. Are the players' welfare truly protected - not just i...

Hockey players obtaining stints abroad is nothing new. In 2010, Noor Faeez Ibrahim and  Izzat Sumantri featured in the Dutch league. Faizal Saari and Sukri Abdul Mutalib played for Australian club Adelaide Southern Hotshots last year. Now Faizal is torn between returning to Adelaide or traveling across the world to play for Spanish outfit Athletic Terrassa Club. According to The Star's report today, Malaysian Hockey Confederation secretary Johari Aziz  revealed Faizal is the only national player to have received offers to play in the Australian and Spanish leagues.   It looks like Faisal seems keen playing in the land of tapas, magaritas, beautiful architecture and laid back society - despite the bad economy.   "I prefer to play in the Spanish League as I will be up against top players from Europe. The league in Spain is also much more challenging than the one in Australia."   It's good that we are finally having more players eager to pl...

That is what I gathered from the Malaysian Hockey Federation and the National Sports Council regarding the visa woes for Shukri Mutalib and Faisal Saari who are supposed to play in the knockout-stage of the Australian Hockey League. Both Shukri (pic ) and Faisal will return today and join their team mates for the test series against Japan which starts on Sunday. Read more in today's Mailsport . SS Dhaliwal was the first to highlight the matter as seen here . The duo were required to apply for a sport visa and not a work permit - as stated in the Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship website . Pic: From NST HD says: If only more officials were like NSC hockey liaison officer Nurazlan Shah Adam. He was polite and accommodating - a rare trait among his peers.