Foul!

Former national football coaches  1940 - 1950: Neoh Boon Hean  1950 - 1956: Edwin Dutton 1956 - 1959: Choo Seng Quee  1960 - 1964: Otto Westphal  1964 - 1966: C. De Silva  1967 - 1968: Peter Velappan  1969:             Abdul Ghani Minhat 1969 - 1970: Harold Hassall  1970 - 1971: Dave McLaren  1972:            Jalil Che Din  1973:            Tam Sitwa  1973 - 1977: M. Kuppan  1974:            Jalil Che Din 1978:            Chow Kwai Lam  1979 - 1982: Karl-Heinz Weigang  1982 - 1983: M. Chandran  1983 - 1985: Frank Lord  1985 - 1986: Mohamad Bakar  1986 - 1987: Jozef Vengloš  1987:            Abdul Rahman Ibrahim 1988:            Richard Bate  1988: ...

List of Sports Commissioners 1998 - 1999:   Datuk Ahmad Bakri Shabdin  1999 - 2005:  Datuk Mahamad Zabri Min 2005 - 2008:  Tan Sri Elyas Omar 2008 - 2010:  Datuk Nik Mahmud Nik Yusof  2010 - 2013:  Datuk Yassin Salleh 2013 - 2015: (Datuk) Ahmad Shapawi Ismail 2015 - present: Datuk Zaiton Othman  * Tenure takes into account annual leave periods. + Shapawi was the only non “titled” person to be SC

As published in Mailsport today Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — It was a sensation Datuk Ong Kim Swee could not describe. Right after Fifa informed FA of Malaysia (FAM) regarding a switch in the Palestine-Malaysia World Cup qualifying venue, the interim national coach quickly called his family. Palestine were to host Saudi Arabia in Ramallah today and Malaysia on Nov 12 at the Dura Stadium in Hebron — a city which had been hit by numerous attacks between security forces and Palestinians in recent weeks. Palestinian FA (PFA) were supposed to “provide Fifa urgently all the details of the chosen neutral ground for the hosting of both matches”.  “My family were relieved. I was relieved as well after (FAM general secretary) Datuk Hamidin Amin broke the news,” he said. Fifa had yesterday informed PFA the matches against Saudi Arabia and Malaysia must be played on neutral ground.  Fifa said “the Palestinian government confirmed ...

As published in Malay Mail today Haresh Says By Haresh Deol “BRO, if all the Indians left the country, no one would actually miss them.” I smile sarcastically, knowing very well what Samy was about to say next. “Maybe they will miss our thosai, vadai and the barbers ... but that’s about it,” he continued. Samy, a neighbourhood friend, quickly moved on to another subject but I could sense his bitterness. A visit to a hypermarket in Ampang on Monday evening strengthened Samy’s perspective. There was not a single reference of Deepavali anywhere except for a small booth that sold twinkle lights and some decoration pieces (pic) . There were several cheap-looking greeting cards bearing the faces of famous Kollywood actors and actresses for sale. That’s it. A quick stop at another hypermarket in Petaling Jaya yesterday saw Christmas decoration items for sale. Once again, no reference of Deepavali — not even an Indian song played during my 30 minutes there. ...

As published in Mailsport today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my        KUALA LUMPUR — FA of Malaysia (FAM) will write to Fifa for a third time to request the World Cup qualifier against Palestine in Hebron on Nov 12 be played at a neutral venue. This follows recent reports of shootings between security forces and Palestinians recently. Fifa rejected FAM’s two earlier appeals, insisting the match will proceed at Dura Stadium. Saudi Arabia, who meet Palestine in another World Cup qualifier on Thursday, raised concerns of playing in the West Bank in their letter to Fifa on Friday. The teams were scheduled to play in Ramallah on Oct 13 but that was postponed after the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) invoked a case of force majeure preventing their team from travelling to the Palestinian territories. ”We are aware of the situation and will write to Fifa (today) to express our concerns. We have written to them before but that will n...

As published in Malay Mail today     HARESH SAYS By Haresh Deol   HE swirls effortlessly with strikes that are graceful yet deadly. There was no shouting or screaming, just the sound of the wind accompanying his moves.   It gave me goosebumps as I stood from afar, watching a silat exponent practise his art.   I was drawn to the art of silat in school. The movements — jurus, bunga and belebat — are intriguing and mesmerising.   A martial art that originated from the nusantara (Malay archipelago), silat spread  by word of mouth. It is believed silat was developed through the observation of animal movements and other natural phenomena while scholars declared Chinese and Hinduism elements are evident in the art form, their influence in the region during the early days.   Silat is best associated with legendary warrior Hang Tuah and his four friends — Hang Kasturi, Jebat, Lekir and Lekiu.   It is deeply rooted ...

As published in Mailsport today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian team that played Persib in Bandung last Saturday claimed they were caught off guard after the organisers labelled them Malaysia All Stars. Rasah Jaya FC team manager Abdul Rafi Abdul Murad said they were initially informed by the agent the game at the Si Jala Harupat Stadium was a “friendly”. The visitors, coached by Nick Sham Abdullah, lost 4-1. “But to our shock we saw the press when we arrived at the airport on Friday. We also saw posters which included two M-League players and there was a press conference,” he said. “We told them we cannot use the name Malaysia All Stars but they insisted. In fact, they got angry when we stressed we wanted to stay out of the match. We feared for our safety and decided to play.” He said the match was disorganised and even saw the kick off time rescheduled from 7pm to 4pm at the eleventh hour. “We did not even step out of the hotel after...