Foul!

HARESH SAYS as published in Mailsport today IT was a weekend filled with plenty of expectations.  Footie fans had been pushing for changes in FA of Malaysia (FAM) through its #RombakFAM (revamp FAM) campaign.  The much awaited 50th congress was held on Sunday morning and it was the first time in three decades former president Sultan Ahmad Shah was challenged by two others — his son Tengku Abdullah and the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim. As many had expected, and I had said on air during Astro Arena’s Kafe Sukan last month, Tengku Abdullah was voted the new president.  But I had also on the same programme, through my previous writings and during Nadi Arena on Saturday, stressed Malaysia football is beyond FAM. It is only right to thank Sultan Ahmad for his three decades of services and to congratulate Tengku Abdullah for taking up the role — which he was destined to assume. Tengku Abdullah is also the Malaysia Hockey Confeder...

MEDIA RELEASE 22, OCTOBER, 2013 KABADDI ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA EXTRA ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING STATES WANT A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP Seven State Kabaddi associations want a change in the leadership of the Kabaddi Association of Malaysia (KAM) and want the transformation to take place through an Extra Ordinary General Meeting this Thursday. The State Kabaddi Associations of Perak, Johor, Selangor, Terengganu, Penang, Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur have joined forces in demanding the change. A request to call for the EGM was made almost a month ago, but the current KAM executive committee chose to ignore the request. Perak Kabaddi Association president Datuk Dr G Krishnan, who is also the current KAM vice president, said that there has been no official reply to the request made by the secretary or any of the key principal office bearers of the KAM. “The request was made as per the KAM Constitution. Since the secretary failed to do his duties...

"Saya sibuk cari duit bagi membayar gaji pemain dan saya tidak ada masa untuk melayan FAM sebab gaji pemain, mereka (FAM) tak tolong bayar." Berikut merupakan kata-kata presiden Persatuan Bola Sepak Perlis Shahidan Kassim melalui khidmat pesanan ringkas kepada Bernama .  Ini berkenaan surat yang dikeluarkan Jawatankuasa Tatatertib FAM kepada Shahidan yang dikatakan melanggari Artikel 88 Statut FAM. Ya, Artikel 88 kembali lagi. Musim lalu, Annuar Musa menjadi mangsa Artikel yang sama. Banyak yang diperkatakan namun Artikel tersebut masih tetera didalam Statut FAM. Jangan salahkan jawatankuasa yang terlibat kerana mereka hanya mengikut undang-undang yang sedia ada.  Mereka yang berlajar undang-undang tahu 'a bad law is still law'. Annuar Musa dan Shahidan menjadi mangsa. Siapa pula selepas ini? Mungkin kita harus pastikan mereka yang pandai membodek juga terperangkap dalam Artikel 88 supaya mereka sedar bahawa mereka sebenarnya mempunyai kuasa untuk membu...

Shahidan Kassim menafikan dakwaan beliau meninggalkan mesyuarat agung tahunan Kesatuan Olahraga Malaysia pada Ahad lepas, sebaik mengetahui gagal mempertahankan jawatan presiden badan induk sukan olahraga negara itu bagi penggal 2012/2014. Itu merupakan laporan Bernama. Ini pula artikel Harian Metro ; Beliau (Zainal Abidin Ahmad) meluahkan rasa tidak berpuas hati dan berang dengan tindakan Shahidan yang terus meninggalkan lokasi AGM di Dewan Komanwel, Bukit Jalil sejurus tewas dalam pertandingan. Kemuncak drama dalam KOM berterusan dan ketika Zainal mempersoalkan sikap tidak profesional Shahidan, adakah beliau sendiri profesional dan memiliki ciri-ciri ketenangan selaku seorang presiden? Soalan ini menjadi perbualan media apabila beliau tidak mahu mengadakan sidang akhbar untuk mengulas kemenangan dan perancangan masa depannya. Hmm... Saya amat berharap presiden baru (Zainal) sudi minum teh bersama saya dalam masa terdekat ini. HD kata: Bangsar boleh, Bukit ...

Dear Zainal Abidin Ahmad , Allow me to first congratulate you for being appointed as the new Malaysian Athletic Federation (MAF) president. It must have been a joyous moment for you when you were named as the new chief for the national body, replacing former Perlis MB Shahidan Kassim, during the AGM yesterday. I'm sure you will still continue to receive SMSes and phone calls congratulating you over your new role throughout today. I certainly do not wish to dampened your mood but as you know by now, there is a lot of work to be done to elevate the national athletics scene. Some have expressed that they are rather surprised with your line up. Wan Hisham Wan Salleh obtained 25 votes to boot Karim Ibrahim (19 votes) out from the deputy president's post while several familiar names continue to warm their seats within the organisation. Yet, many insist that your appointment is a breath of fresh air. I do not wish to ridicule your predecessor or his set of officials. The...

UPDATE Sept 25, 2.43pm:  Then again, everyone is confused. Is the once known Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union now known as the Malaysian Athletics Union or the Malaysian Athletics Federation? That was from a posting of mine on March 4, 2012 . And today, NST highlights the same issue. ----- UPDATE 2pm: New beginning for MAF. Zainal Abidin Ahmad replaces Shahidan Kassim as president; deputy president Karim Ibrahim makes way for the newly elected Wan Hisham Wan Salleh. ----- "Whether tomorrow's AGM is legal or otherwise is a decision for the Sports Commissioner's office to make.  "The Sports Commissioner's office will determine whether there were any flaws in the AGM. To me the procedures were followed, notice for the AGM was sent and notice for nominations was accepted and filled." Those were the words of Malaysia Athletic Federation (MAF) president Shahidan Kassim. Shahidan was certainly responding to allegations by Danyal Balagopal Abdu...

Laporan dibawah diperolehi daripada agensi berita negara Bernama . Pendapat saya tertera dalam ink merah. KANGAR, 22 Julai (Bernama) -- Presiden Persatuan Bola Sepak Perlis (PFA), Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim ( gambar ) hari ini menyatakan hasrat untuk berundur daripada meneraju persatuan itu jika ada pihak lain yang berminat menggantikannya. No, this is not an April Fool's joke. Erm, lepas jawatan dari Persekutuan Olahraga Malaysia sekali ke? Beliau yang menawarkan jawatan itu kepada Menteri Besar Perlis Datuk Seri Md Isa Sabu, berkata PFA memerlukan peruntukan yang besar untuk kembali gah dalam saingan liga. Maksudnye harap duit kerajaan negeri lagi? "Saya tahu beliau (Md Isa) tak minat bola sepak, tetapi beliau mempunyai sumber kewangan untuk meneraju sukan ini," katanya pada sidang media, di sini. Macam perli je.... Shahidan berkata kekangan kewangan menyebabkan PFA gagal menyerlah dalam saingan Liga Perdana musim ini sehingga terpaksa beraksi dalam Liga ...

Kelantan digelar juara Liga Super 2012. Tahniah kepada jurulatih pasukan Bojan Hodak dan anak buahnya. Nampak gaya Kelantan lah yang menyelamatkan martabat Liga Super musim ini. Bayangkan kalau pasukan Singapura LionsXII yang menang. Hmm... Sudah pasti ramai juga akan tertanya-tanya apa yang melintas fikiran Annuar Musa yang bertikam lidah dengan Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM) disebabkan artikel 88 - artikel kuno yang kuat diperdebatkan sebelum ini. Bercakap mengenai FAM, Kongres yang ke-48 telah berlangsung semalam tetapi malang sekali Artikel 88 tidak diperbincangkan. Ini kerana hanya usul-usul yang "menetapi syarat-syarat" dibawa ke Kongres kali ini. Semasa Kongres, presiden persatuan bola sepak Perlis Shahidan Kassim mengaju soalan kepada presiden FAM Sultan Ahmad Shah mengenai tafsiran perkataan 'Media' dalam Statut FAM dan adakah perkataan tersebut merangkumi Media arus perdana, social dan alternatif. Shahidan juga bertanya mengapa setiausaha ag...

"MAU to investigate source of leaked report" That was the sub-header of Devinder Singh's report ' Karim faces another inquiry ' in today's NST. The federation, had in its recent meeting, apparently discussed how the 'investigative report on six national athletes who skipped dope tests last year was leaked to the media on Thursday'. It is claimed that only three individuals - the president Shahidan Kassim, deputy president Karim Ibrahim and vice president R.Annamalai - were the only ones with the report. It is shocking that instead of spending time addressing the contents of the report, the national body prefers to waste time finding out who leaked the report to the Media. What is more important? Addressing the fact that athletes have been advised to "use someone else's urine sample" and and are supplied with "pink and red pills" and "herbal pills"? Or the itch to search for the the person who leaked the report (which...

Those were pretty much the words of National Sports Institute CEO Dr Ramlan Aziz. One wouldn't blame Ramlan for such an outburst. He has, over and over, advised athletes not to be ignorant when it comes to medicines and supplements. Yet, they don't seem to listen. So if an athlete tried to sneak in someone else's urine for an anti-doping test and if several samples of the urine was taken from the same individual, Ramlan said the "physical characteristics" of the urine will raise suspicion. If the same was practiced for a medical test, then Ramlan said the athlete is on the losing end as he or she will not benefit form the test. He clarified NSI has not been using Centrum for years and never used Antibol-loges , as claimed by former chief coach Harun Rasheed to the investigation panel on Sept 12, 2011. And he stressed former athletes have "no business" supplying pills - or in this case herbal pills - to athletes, as published in the front page of today...

"Karim also told me to take the pills, which he said were very expensive. I was also given injections two or three times a week. The doctor informed me that they were B complex shots for recovery after training. Karim asked me not to tell anyone, including coach K. Jayabalan, about the pills. However, I fell ill after receiving two injections and could not train for a few days. I told coach Jayabalan about the injections and he was angry with me." That was the stunning admission by national relay runner Yunus Lasaleh ( pic ) who failed a dope test after winning gold at the Indonesia SEA Games last year as published in The Star and NST today. Sprints coach Hamberi Mahad handed Malaysia Athletic Union president Shahidan Kassim a petition signed by 16 coaches and 42 athletes containing damning allegations on doping and a call to remove his deputy president Karim Ibrahim. Although Shahidan expressed "shock" over the petition, one cannot help but wonder if the ...

Politics is not confined to the 'popular' sports. Just look at the local kabaddi scene. The Kabaddi Association of Malaysia (KAM) will hold its annual general meeting cum elections on Wednesday. Do expect drama between its president Shahidan Kassim ( left ) and Kabbadi Association of Selangor (KAS) council member Dr Shanmughanathan Vellanthurai ( right ). Shahidan - who is also president to many other sports associations - apparently has won the presidency seat unopposed as his challenger Shanmughanathan's nomination was thrown out of the window. Read today's Mailsport for a better understanding of the Kabaddi thriller . The last thing kabaddi needs is politics. HD says: If the KAM drama ain't your thing, try watching Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu instead.