Foul!

Haresh Says, as published in Malay Mail today. THOSE in power believe they have the best interests of hockey at heart when they parade mind-blowing egos, often proclaiming the “important” roles they play in charting the fortunes of the sport in Malaysia. But their boasts are actually a clamouring for glamour — with hockey being a sport loved by royalty. They need to be drag-flicked out of the hockey arena, for one. Professionalism is almost non-existent in the manner the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) operates. It borders on foolishness, which must be rather embarrassing for MHC president Tengku Abdullah Shah. The Crown Prince of Pahang must realise the importance of educated advisors who understand the sport well. Age does not translate to wisdom. Why my sudden outburst of negativity? Well, MHC is in debt. The winner of the TNB Cup, Terengganu Hockey Team, has apparently not been paid despite the final taking place a month ago on Dec 14. The team received R...

UPDATE 5.40pm: It seemed like yesterday when I spoke to National Sports Institute CEO Dr Ramlan Aziz about the fitness levels of athletes and he did mention a particular team sport. In fact it was in 2009 when Ramlan shared some statistics with me and this was a line from the story then Smoking was also said to be one of the reasons why our hockey team failed at the pre-Olympic tournament last year. Read the full report here . --- I always have a soft spot for hockey. I started writing about schools hockey during my early days. R.Vivekananda was a school teacher and coach for Royal Military College back then and I remember writing about Kevinder Singh who was only 15 back then. I remember coaches like Saiful Munir Mansor, who was also my former school teacher in Methodist Boys School Sentul, and Minarwan Nawawi and Maninderjit Singh's stint coaching SMK Sri Hartamas. The support for hockey then was rather good as you would fellow school mates and family members showing their suppor...

UPDATE (5.00pm): Was The Star set up? Just received a statement saying, As MHF Secretary, I would like to reiterate my and MHF position that I/we did not communicate nor provided any of the facts as stated in The STAR newspaper today - http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2011/10/2/sports/9617781&sec=sports At this stage of the matter, I would not or could not provide any statements because the athletes concerned had sought for the Sample B to be tested to reconfirm the results and in which could lead to prejudice to the matter. Any statement released by MHF must be fair and not be bias or damaging towards the club concerned and players involved. MHF will make the official announcement of the matter after fulfilling the procedures in accordance to the ADAMAS and MHF/FIH Anti Doping Regulations undertaken by teams and officials for the TNBMHL2011. Should there be any official release/statement to the press, we will communicate via the Media Officer of the event as we have d...