Foul!

Asian Football Confederation general-secretary Datuk Windsor Paul John awarding the writer with the SAM-100Plus Best News Report (Print) award at PJ Hilton last night. - Pic by SAM 'Hold, Let go, Attack' That was the title of my front page article published in the Sunday Mail on April 9, 2017. The article was about how a former footballer disclosed the Kuala Lumpur FA was managed by an alleged bookie in 2013. Read the full report here . Sunday Mail's front page published on April 9, 2017 It's been close to 10 months since I left Malay Mail, last serving as its Executive Editor. And winning the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM)-100Plus Best News Report (Print) award for the above-mentioned article at PJ Hilton last night was a humbling moment. Ironically, the headline of the winning article is reflective of life as well - of how one should know when is the right time to 'hold', 'let go' or 'attack'. Congratulation...

The Attorney-General's Chambers has declared a NFA (No Further Action) on the investigation papers (IP) into the failure of Klang City International Marathon organiser to obtain a licence or apply for one from the Sports Commissioner to hold the event last December. The NST quoted  Klang Selatan district police chief Assistant Commissioner Shamsul Amar Ramli  as saying:  "The order was done on the directive of the Attorney-General with the reason that Section 36(1) of the Sports Development Act 1997 is not an offence that can be accusable and it was subsequently classified NFA,"  Read the full report here . Let's dissect the quote. " ... with the reason that Section 36(1) of the Sports Development Act 1997 is not an offence that can be accusable."  The AGC may have come to that conclusion because Section 36 does not specify that not having the appropriate license is an offence.  But .... Section 39 of the Sports Development Act reads...

UPDATE 12.44pm: Here is the podcast of the show 'Pressing Matters' that I was on this morning. --- ORIGINAL POST I will be on BFM this morning (9.30am) to speak about the stand off between Selangor FA and the state government. For those in the dark over the nauseating episode (or those who lost track on how the whole fiasco started), here's my 'Selangor FA v State Government Saga for Dummies': Main actors: i. Datuk Seri Azmin Ali (Selangor Menteri Besar & PKR deputy president) ii. Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal (Selangor FA president, was vice president when Azmin was Selangor FA president, Umno man, former state assemblyman for Taman Templer and now a businessman) Supporting actors: i. Amirudin Shari ( Selangor Youth, Culture and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman) ii. Rosman Ibrahim (Selangor FA general secretary) iii. Datuk S. Sivasundram (Selangor FA treasurer) Plot Azmin quit s as Selangor FA president in December 2016, claimi...

Mohanjit (left), Rayzam and brand manager Allan Netto sharing a light moment at Kuckreja Sdn Bhd. The spike Mohanjit is holding was made for athletes in the 1940s. Throughout the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last year, I was on Astro Arena to share my views. Among the gold medalists who joined me in the studio at Wisma Ali Bawal, Petaling Jaya was national 110m hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian . I had, after the show, asked Rayzam - captain of the national athletics SEA Games squad - if he had a sponsor. The Sabahan replied: "No". I posted an article 'A pair of shoes would be nice'  (Sept 7, 2017) on this blog. This morning Rayzam got more than just a pair of shoes. Segambut-based Kuckreja Sdn Bhd has offered to sponsor Rayzam spike shoes, track shoes and apparel for a year. The man behind the company. Mohanjit Kuckreja, considers the contribution to the national hero as a "CSR project". A man of a few words, Mohanjit who is an avid hiker said: ...

UPDATE 1.15am: Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president Karim Ibrahim, after reading this article, had in a WhatsApp message at 1.13am, said: "MAF will include Lee in the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games." That reply itself is a record - exactly five minutes after this posting was published! --- ORIGINAL POST National high jumper Lee Hup Wei  (pic) claimed  his second gold medal in the New South Wales Open Athletics Championships in Sydney on Feb 4. The 30-year-old and his teammate Nauraj Singh Randhawa both cleared 2.24m but Hup Wei was awarded the gold on count back. Hup Wei's effort was 4cm short of his personal best of 2.28m, his gold-medal winning mark at the ACT Championships in Canberra last month. Read the full article here . Immediately after Hup Wei achieved his personal best of 2.28m, I received this message from a sports official. "Maybe you can write about his (Hup Wei's) recent result (The) athletics federation...

“Ini janji kita kalau BN menang, hari ini kita menang, esok kita akan berikan stadium kepada FAS. Menteri besar Selangor perlu hormati pasukan ‘The Red Giant’. “Pasukan ini sudah puluhan tahun mencipta nama. Bayangkan kalau pasukan bola yang mempunyai ribuan penyokong, akhirnya dikecewakan kerana ada unsur politik." Those were the words of Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar. Read the full article ' Hari ini menang, esok serah Stadium Shah Alam, kata Noh '. And this was my immediate respond to the article on Twitter : I don't know if Noh Omar will claim he was misconstrued. Such 'U-turns' occur quiet often among politicians. But following his views, as reported by the online portal, Noh Omar joins a list of politicians who love scoring own goals. We all know the politics revolving Selangor FA even before Noh Omar jumped on the Shah Alam Stadium bandwagon. And it's sickening. PKR's Azmin Ali, the man who has blocked me from Twitter, i...

These pictures taken at the MBPJ hockey stadium say it all. The mini 'speed bumps' could pose a serious problem as the venue hosts the TNB Malaysian Hockey League. According to the fixtures , Selangor will play RMAF Rajawali in a league match at the stadium at 5pm tomorrow. Players and team managers believe the air pockets are caused by the recent downpour. As the stadium is located on lower ground, water from the surrounding area tends to flood the venue. Perhaps a well thought drainage system inside and outside the venue can help ensure the newly laid turf will be in perfect playing condition. Even the lighting at the stadium could be upgraded to ensure they meet the international body's requirements. The condition of the turf here reminded me of how the Ministry of Education turf at Pantai once looked like. By the way, here are some of my previous articles regarding hockey turfs in the country: April 1, 2016: Come on Selangor, reward your ...