Foul!

As published in Malay Mail today  HARESH SAYS By Haresh Deol THEY spoke at great lengths with one goal in mind — to resuscitate Malaysian football. Somewhat poetically, the “boys” of St John’s Institution, class of 1975 to be exact, had gathered in an office at Wisma Paradise in Jalan Ampang that had a nice view of their alma mater. It was there, during their younger days, that they played football in the rain while idolising the likes of the late Datuk Mokhtar Dahari, Datuk Santokh Singh and Datuk Soh Chin Aun. About two weeks ago, they met to discuss the current state of Malaysian football. This was fresh after Malaysia suffered a humiliating 10-0 beating to United Arab Emirates on Sept 4 — our worst result at an international match to date. But it was not just another session of coffee shop talk. They had a plan. “We plan to take over a club or state team and run it. Don’t worry, we will be able to find the resources and teach the others a thing or two about prof...

I am truly humbled. Thank you. As published in Malay Mail today. PETALING JAYA — Malay Mail added another feather to its cap when executive editor Haresh Deol won the Best Commentary award at the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM)-100PLUS Awards at PJ Hilton yesterday. Haresh’s commentary on former world No. 1 shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s doping saga “ Is this the end of Lee Chong Wei? ” published on Nov 12 last year won the hearts of the juries. He took home RM3,000 and a trophy. Lee’s hearing has been scheduled for April 11. This is Haresh’s fourth SAM award. Haresh, who started as a sports journalist with Malay Mail 15 years ago, won the 2011 Best Special Report award and was named Sportswriter of the Year. He also won the SAM Best Report award for 2012. Together with roving news editor Pearl Lee, they won the Malaysian Press Institute-Petronas Best News Report Award last year. Malay Mail sports journalist Vijhay Vick was nominated for two awards — Best...

It looks like certain parties have started their 'campaign' of installing a new national coach. Current custodian K.Rajagobal has been under fire no thanks to the unimpressive results chalked during a string of friendly matches prior the AFF Cup and the failure to retain the AFF Cup after losing 3-1 in aggregate to Thailand in the semi finals of the regional tournament. To be fair, Rajagobal has always maintained that his goal has always been to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. Remember it is he who guided the team to win the 2010 edition. But what have we achieved since? As our neighbours Thailand and Singapore speak about their teams playing in the two-legged AFF Cup finals, Ong Kim Swee - Harimau Malaya's coach - hogs the limelight in the local dailies as some suggest he should take over Rajagobal's role. There are also polls on social media if Rajagobal should stay of leave ( pic right ). Amri Yahyah claims Kim Swee is suitable for the job as...

Many still believe we are good at being hosts. Perhaps they are right as we tend to be gracious - overly gracious especially when it comes to funds - when given the task to organise events. The 1998 Commonwealth Games in KL was a sight to behold. Yet it took more than a decade to finally close the accounts and left several facilities in poor conditions. Almost RM300 million was spent on the recently concluded Malaysia Games in Pahang. Despite the huge budget, there was a food poisoning incident and other episodes which caught the attention of Pahang prince Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah as reported by Bernama . But there are those who praised the Sukma as seen in a Harian Metro report . Now the SEA Games Federation has given Malaysia the opportunity to host the 2017 regional Games if no other country bids to host it. The last time we hosted the SEA Games was in 2001 - when I was still a stringer with The Malay Mail then and skipped two weeks of classes to get a taste...