Foul!

Last Tuesday, I had written a commentary about making our roads safer for cyclists as seen here . This was in light with an accident involving a motorbike and national cyclist Ng Yong Li along the MRR2 on April 22. Yong Li's accident is the third involving a national cyclist. Mariana Mohammed suffered serious injuries while Rafizi Hamdan was killed on the spot. There are many more cyclists who suffer accidents - most of them unreported. I'm glad that Putrajaya and now the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council is taking steps of ensuring our roads are "bicycle friendly". Read of Ampang Jaya's plans in today's NST. HD says: A step in the right direction

UPDATE: An influential weapon - From the Sidelines. ------- I was at a function over the weekend when a government official admitted he was surprised to see the huge turnout for the Bersih 3.0 rally in KL. "There was no publicity in the newspapers and yet the organisers managed to gather so many people." I smiled and said; "They don't need the newspapers anymore. Twitter, blog and Facebook is good enough to create such an impact." It's sad that as a true blue newspaper man, who still enjoy getting my fingers dirty with ink flipping through the pages of a newspaper, I have to admit that social media is where the masses especially the youths read up and disseminate information. We knew about it - even before the 2008 elections. Yet, the old-timers- till today - don't take it seriously. Prime Minister Najib Razak even made an announcement recently that candidates on Twitter more likely to be selected for the coming General Election. Ownin...

...menang pun kena kutuk, kalah pun kena kutuk. Imagine this. The country is gearing up for the coming 13th General Election, which some claim will be the 'dirtiest'. It could be 'dirty' but to call it the dirtiest can only be justified if one has facts, figures and evidence of previous elections and the current election to compare and prove it is indeed the dirtiest. If the ruling government wins, especially if it wins 2/3 majority, the critics will say the election was rigged. If the ruling government loses, they will be seen as having lost the war. The same can be said about the FA of Malaysia (FAM). Think about it. Malaysia defeated Sri Lanka 6-0 - the national team's first win this year. However, some had been cynical about the match. Suspended FAM deputy president Annuar Musa had, hours before the match, said; "Tak jadi la ke STADIUM TENGOK HARIMAU MALAYA...BARU TENGOK PRESS STATEMENT COACH SRI LANGKA MENGESAHKAN MEREKA BAWA TEAM MOSTLY BU...

                                       MALAYSIA  BASKETBALL  ASSOCIATION                                          LIST  OF  OFFICE  BEARERS  2012-2016 PRESIDENT: TIONG KING SING DEPUTY  PRESIDENT: HOO SHUA FATT VICE-PRESIDENT: LING KUOK KAI (Elected)                 LAI SANG SHION (Elected)                 LEE CHENG CHUAN (Elected)                 OOI KHOON ...

...dan bukan sebaliknya. Seperti kejohanan lain seperti Malaysian Open (tennis), badan induk merupakan "organiser" tetapi mereka dibayar "sanction fee" oleh pihak promoter. Badan induk akan memperoleh sejumlah wang (yang selalunya besar) yang dipersetujui kedua-dua pihak. Badan induk kemudiannya akan menolong dari segi aspek teknikal (referee, dsb). Promosi pula dilakukan pihak promoter dan mereka akan kemudiannya mengutip hasil jualan tiket. Timbalan presiden FAM dan presiden Kelantan FA Annuar Musa ada menyentuh lawatan Arsenal (Jun 24) dan Manchester City (Julai 30) ke Malaysia dalam Facebook-nya semalam ( gambar ); "...adalah baik bagi exco mengetahu detail kerana lazimnya EXCO menerima keputusan yg sudah dibuat." "...sy tk pasti samaada mereka (ProEvents) bayar pd kita atau kita bayar pd mereka." "...tp jgn lupa misi berbeza antara epl dgn kita...bagi mereka ini satu PR DAN PROMO dlm mencari PENAJA DAN COMMERCIAL SUPPORT...d...

IT is obvious national coach K.Rajagobal ( pic ) is tired of speaking about Malaysia's 156 position in the Fifa ranking. To silence his critics once and for all, he has demanded nothing less than a win from his lads as the Tigers take on Sri Lanka in an international friendly match at the Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday. "It's simple, I've told the boys to focus on the match this Saturday and I want us to win. That's it," said Rajagobal firmly. "I don't want to dwell about rankings and I don't want to talk about those questioning our capabilities. We have not lost a single match since 2012 and that's a fact." Rajagobal added the training has been smooth sailing as he plans to try out several faces. It is a crucial year for the Tigers as they gear up to defend their Asean Cup title in December. This will be Malaysia’s seventh meeting with the Sri Lankans since the Merdeka Tournament in 1972 as the Malaysians have won f...

UPDATE April 30, 2012: - A week late but finally it gets published. Not so green on the other side in page 8 of The Malay Mail today. Imagine sending your child to school only to worry that one day you could receive a phone call saying that he was knocked down by a speeding car or even worse - dead. That is what parents and teachers in SMK Maxwell have been worrying about for almost two decades. I was invited to the school for the 1Murid 1Sukan programme but the deplorable conditions of the "sports complex" and lack of playing space certainly turned the campaign into a farce. There are only two badminton courts in the school. Most of the time students will need to play on the tarmac in between the teacher's cars. I'm sure most of the cars have received scratches and knocks from time to time. There is a sports complex across the school - with the "loop" connecting Lebuhraya Mahameru to PWTC and Umno building. The complex consists of; 1. A usua...

Aiman has certainly ruffled some feathers and is not a hit among some officials. But he certainly has a loyal following as Suara Sukan Anda was awarded the Most Popular Blog at the Astro Arena Awards ceremony last night. Congratulations! Astro Arena should also be congratulated for acknowledging the work of bloggers, who many claim are just "keyboard warriors". It is certainly a step in the right direction. Favourite Male Athlete in a Team: Khairul Fahmi Che Mat (football) Favourite Female Athlete in a Team: Nur Fatehah Mustapha(cycling) Favourite New Comer: Nazmi Faiz Mansor (football) Favourite Comeback: Lee Hup Wei (athletics) Favourite Coach: Ong Kim Swee (football) Favourite Match of the Year: Indonesia v Malaysia (Sea Games football final) Special Award: The late Salam Sidek (archery - paralympic) HD says: Congratulations to the winners.

Pahang's Russian striker Eduard Sakhnevich ( pic left ) has lodged a formal complaint to FIFA and FA of Malaysia (FAM) after his services were "terminated" by Pahang FA on April 10, 2012. Eduard insisted there was NO mutual agreement to terminate the contract. He has, through his agent Ricky Swen Jr ( pic right ), lodged a police report in Kuantan alleging he was "cheated" as he believed an undated letter was slipped into the contract which Eduard signed and is now believed to be a "termination letter" by the Russian. Interesting eh. The Russian also claims he, his wife and two sons were "terrorised" and forced out of their house in Kuantan by Pahang FA general secretary Fuzzemi Ibrahim and "another man" who he doesn't recognise. He has only been paid for February and March. He now wants the full payment of wages as his contract ends on Nov 30. Eduard has no idea why he was terminated despite scoring four goals in fi...

The picture was taken at the EPL Masters yesterday. Need I say more? On the same subject, FA of Malaysia deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was quoted by Bernama as saying; If the players and team management does not know the implication of the current ranking, especially the players, it will be a big blow to the image of the country's football.  Harian Metro, meanwhile, reported ; Bagaimanapun apa yang disuarakan Tengku Abdullah itu tampak bercanggah dengan kenyataan pegawai badan induk itu sebelum ini. Setiausaha Agung FAM, Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad dan pengurus pasukan, Datuk Subahan Kamal tidak panik dengan kedudukan terbaru Malaysia di tangga ke-156 dunia, penurunan paling buruk sejak Januari lalu, berbanding 148 apabila menganggap ranking tidak penting kerana ia tidak menggambarkan kekuatan sebenar Harimau Malaya. Oh well.. HD says: Still wondering if Tengku Abdullah will be hauled up by the Disciplinary Board for his comments? ( sic )...

Former hockey international Balbir Singh passed away in Singapore this afternoon. He was 51. Balbir represented Malaysia, RMR and Yayasan Negeri Sembilan in the 1980's to 1990's. He suffered a heart attack while representing Malacca Sikhs in a tournament in the island nation. He leaves behind his wife and three sons. Read Malaysian Hockey for more . HD says: My deepest condolences to Balbir's family.

Some love it; Terbaik Bro..semoga create more video yg kreatif lagi menarik mcm ni :D crasus36 16 hours ago One made a different remark; aku suka pikir negatif.. yg negatif drpd video ni ialah : 1. orang kelantan suka cari gaduh 2. orang kelantan berani bila ramai 3. orang kedah suka cakap putar belit (loyar buruk) brigedalaqsa 17 hours ago Whatever the case may be, this creative video which was uploaded on YouTube recently urges us to support local teams and not just for the FA Cup semi final. Hope to see more of such videos. HD says: Not bad eh..

I was with The Star's Rajes Paul at Wisma OCM this morning as the both of us were invited to mark and select the winner for the Asian Games Youth Reporter essay writing competition by school children in KL. It is part of the Olympic Council of Asia's programme which is facilitated by the Olympic Council of Malaysia here. Naturally we spoke about the pictures splashed on the back page of most dailies today - pictures of world No 1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei and National Sports Council director general Zolkples Embong shaking hands. Both Chong Wei and Zolkples apologised for their outbursts and decided to kiss and make up. Read here , here and here . Do refer to my earlier postings pertaining the outbursts as seen here and here . After the meeting, Zolkples was quoted saying; " I was also under pressure from the media and I said jokingly that we have to offer RM200,000 to make sure Chong Wei attends the function. I even said sorry to him during our discussion ...

UPDATE 2.59pm: Was informed a meeting between Chong Wei and Zolkples, arranged by a third party (not from BAM), was held earlier this morning followed by a press conference. Both parties have kissed and made up. ----- That is the backpage of today's Mailsport. I knew Lee Chong Wei's absences would be an issue as per my piece - Chong Wei "sakit" hati - posted minutes after the National Sports Award ceremony ended on Tuesday. Harian Metro quoted National Sports Council director general Zolkples Embong as saying; “Mungkin hadiah RM20,000 itu tidak bernilai bagi orang yang berpendapatan RM2 atau RM3 juta setahun tapi bagi atlet lain seperti Pandelela Rinong yang pendapatannya kurang daripada RM50,000 setahun, nilai itu cukup besar. Mungkin kita kena naikkan nilai hadiah menjadi RM200,000 baru Chong Wei mahu hadir." Berita Harian said Zolkples had "...menghantar khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) kepada Chong Wei dan juga pegawai kanan Persatuan Badminton Mal...

According to former Mailsport editor Tony Mariadass "Malaysian sports have been embroiled in more controversies than feel good stories of late." He cites the never-ending football bribery disease, the failure of the hockey lads to qualify for the Olympic and the doping issue surrounding the athletics scene - among others. But come the London Olympics, rest assured that there will be more officials present than athletes. Do not be surprised if even a journalist who hardly covers sport nor his organisation hardly covers local sports, could well be present with an official media accreditation in London. I wonder who eh..... Read Tony's full posting here . HD says: Hmm....

I've checked with FAM. According to them, they have no clue of such news. In fact, if there's any decision or changes in Johor Football. I my self will announce it in a press conference during our annual general meeting. That was taken from Johor FA president Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim's twitter account. Then the Johor Prince went on to say (picture); There was never a request to FAM by Johor FA to have two teams next season. ESPN and FAM get your facts right before coming out with such statement. ESPN had merely lifted NST's article - Brunei eye return to M-League . The article read; Meanwhile, Johor FA, under the leadership of Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, had submitted a request to FAM to have two state teams for next season but the national body rejected it. So what's the real deal? HD says: Will Tunku Ismail face the Disciplinary Board for his outburst on twitter - in breach of the infamous and draconian Article 88 of the...

Members of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (with the exception of OCM secretary Sieh Kok Chi who is abroad) and National Sports Council will gather together with the athletes at NSC later this evening for the 100-day countdown to the London Olympics. We have 16 athletes who have already booked their spots with another 16 to 20 more who will be able to qualify before the Summer Games start in July. While the nation suffered a hiccup when the hockey team failed to qualify, we were indeed surprised to see national fencer Yu Peng Kean making the cut. Ahead of the 100-day countdown today, I spoke to NSC's elite director Ariffin Ghani on the preparation of our national athletes and he said - in a nutshell - it's All Systems Go . " Personally, we should be able to do better than in Beijing. We should be getting more medals than we did at the last Games." HD says: The theme song for our national contingent should be London Calling , by The Clash.

TERKINI April 19 10.51am: Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara Zolkples Embong, dipetik akhbar Berita Harian , berkata; “Kalau orang yang mungkin berpendapatan RM2 hingga 3 juta setahun, ganjaran RM20,000 ini mungkin tiada nilainya.” Ouch. ------- Anugerah Sukan Negara 2011 sekali lagi milik pemain badminton negara Lee Chong Wei. Tapi Chong Wei tidak kelihatan di majlis tersebut semalam. Kenapa eh? Masih sakit bahu atau sakit hati? Ramai yang ingat Chong Wei akan menang tahun lepas tetapi para "juri" (atau seorang juri) merasakan pelumba basikal Azizulhasni Awang merupakan olahragawan terbaik sepanjang 2010. Azizulhasni asal Terengganu. Guest of honour Yang di Pertuan Agong Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin merupakan Sultan ke 17 Terengganu. Menteri Sukan Ahmad Shabery Cheek pun dari Terengganu. Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara pun dari Terengganu. Hanya kebetulan? Or seperti kartun Thundercats (actually it is Transformers), adakah ia "more than meets the eye?" Jeng jeng...

K.Devan letak jawatan sebagai jurulatih Johor FC pada Ahad. Kata Devan, beliau baik beredar untuk member peluang kepada orang lain mengambil alih kerana dengar khabar management Johor FC frust kedudukan tercorot mereka di Liga Super. Baca Mailsport hari ini untuk selebihnya . Nasib baik management KL tak terlalu ghairah, kalau tak Razip Ismail pun dah lama kena buang. KL hanya dapat peroleh satu mata dari 13 perlawanan. SATU mata jer beb! Malu lah, tapi apa nak buat, Tak boleh salahkan Razip. Pemain tak cukup mantap, dah lah KLFA takde main sponsor pulak tu. Jurulatih Terengganu Mat Zan Mat Aris pulak lain ceritanya. Dengar khabar Ken Worden mungkin akan ambil alih tugas Mat Zan. Ada yang nampak Ken di stadium semasa Terengganu menentang Negeri Sembilan baru-baru ini. Ken pernah mengendalikan pasukan Terengganu pada 2009 ( gambar ). Si Penyu kini tangga ketiga Liga Super, semi finalist Piala FA dan masih ada peluang untuk bermain dalam pusingan kedua Piala AFC. Kalau ikutkan...

Are the national football women's team so insignificant that we are allowed to forget about them? We have heard of officials from the women's team going all girl power - demanding to be treated equally. But there are also arguments that the ladies have not proved their worth in the region. Their last best achievement was winning the silver medal at the 1995 Chiang Mai Sea Games. Then again, excluding the recent success by the national men's team, weren't there also in a similar predicament despite the millions spent on them? Most importantly, who is representing their department in FA of Malaysia since Annuar Musa has been asked to relinquish all his posts after being slapped with the 30-month ban? Or is it so insignificant that they don't need any representation... Read more in today's Mailsport . HD says: Hmm..

She has yet to step into London but the English Press are already writing about her as seen in The Daily Mail . National shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi was also featured on Reuters and Yahoo Sports . Nur Suryani, who I last met during the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia awards ceremony in Feb, is expecting her first born early September. This would mean she will be almost eight months into her pregnancy while competing in the Olympics. And her chances of winning the gold medal? "Oh, I don't think about that yet,' she added modestly. 'Anyhow, maybe they will say this is unfair because two persons shoot for one gold," she l aughed, pointing to her bulge. All the best Nur Suryani! HD says: A podium finish will already be a fantastic achievement for Nur Surayni.

UNTUK SIARAN SEGERA KENYATAAN AKHBAR OLEH TAN SRI DATUK SERI PANGLIMA ANNUAR BIN HJ. MUSA SOKONGAN DAN GALAKAN YANG SAYA TERIMA BARU-BARU INI DARI KOMUNITI BOLASEPAK AMAT MEMBERANGSANGKAN. KENYATAAN DULI YANG TERAMAT MULIA TENGKU ABDULLAH TIMBALAN PRESIDEN FAM BARU-BARU INI BAHAWA APA PALING PENTING ADALAH MASA DEPAN PEMBANGUNAN BOLASEPAK DI MALAYSIA MENCERMINKAN DEDIKASI DAN KOMITMEN DYTM TENGKU KE ARAH KEMAJUAN SUKAN BOLASEPAK DI NEGARA INI. SAYA AMAT BERBESAR HATI BAHAWA SUMBANGAN SAYA KEPADA SUKAN BOLASEPAK TELAH MENDAPAT PENGIKTIRAFAN DYTM TENGKU DAN DENGAN HORMATNYA MENERIMA TAWARAN DYTM TENGKU UNTUK MENJADI PENGANTARA UNTUK MENAMATKAN KEBUNTUAN INI. SAYA TETAP MENGHORMATI KEPUTUSAN JAWATANKUASA DISIPLIN DAN PROSEDUR FAM TETAPI SAYA PERCAYA JIKA DYTM TENGKU ABDULLAH, DENGAN PENGALAMAN YANG MENDALAM DYTM TENGKU DI FAM, AFF, AFC DAN JUGA FIFA, DAPAT MELIHAT BAHAWA ADA KEMUNGKINAN SUATU PENYELESAIAN ALTERNATIF DAPAT DICAPAI , SAYA AMAT BERBANGGA UNTUK BERKERJASAMA DENGAN DYTM TENGKU...

Wishing all of you a blessed year ahead. Cheers!

A quick round up; 1. Former Malaysian Hockey Confederation(MHC) secretary Maninderjit Singh (aka Mike) finally says goodbye - via email as seen here . The tone of the email was unlike national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky's body language as the Indonesian was full of laughter and even cracked a joke (Tonight) after announcing his resignation yesterday. 2. National hockey coach Tai Beng Hai attempt to defend himself - after The Star published the contents of his report to MHC - is 'full of holes' as seen here . Is it true Beng Hai is contemplating to initiate legal action against the newspaper and a blogger? Last but not least 3. The FA of Malaysia (FAM) is not perturbed over Malaysia's rather consistent slide down the Fifa ranking. Malaysia is now placed at 156 - behind Bangladesh (152). HD says: Oh what an interesting way to end the week.

First national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky revealed he has taken up a job offer in the Philippines, as reported in today’s Mailsport . It is a two-year contract with the Philippines BA as the coaching director where Rexy will be tasked to scout for talents across the archipelago. Then it was learnt national doubles player Ong Soon Hock is also preparing to quit the national stable. He is apparently still in the midst of finding for sponsors but BA of Malaysia (BAM) has not received any ‘resignation’ letter from Soon Hock. For the record, NST’s KM Boopathy had written about the possibility of the Rexy leaving for the Philippines in January as seen here . Is Rexy’s departure a big loss to the national badminton scene? Having started working for BAM since July 2005, one must not forget it was Rexy who paired up Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong who took the world by storm, winning the Asian Games gold medal in 2006 before winning the All-England title a year later as they were then pa...

Let's ditch the serious stuff and talk about Liverpool. It's either you love them or you hate them. There are many stories about Liverpool and the term YNWA. Rumour has it that once upon a time a fan was bloody bored watching Liverpool play that he wrote to the club saying their performance was nothing but a big fat YAWN. Being a typical bloke from Liverpool, he misspelt the word as YNWA instead. Then someone told me YNWA means You'll Never Win Again. Before I get hate mails (but I trust Liverpool fans are rather civilised compared to other devilish fans), the above stories are not true. But what I do know is that Liverpool is creating an impact around the globe - by brainwashing the younger generation (sic). Don't play play. The picture on the right is the crest for a school (Gurukul Public School) in India while the logo on the left is from a kindergarten in Hong Kong . Don't be surprised if a new school in Kampung Boyan , Taiping could have a similar badge. This...

Hopefully that sentence will not get FA of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Tengku Abdullah Shah into trouble (sic). The Pahang prince was accommodating to the questions fielded with regards to his statement of playing mediator and his father's (FAM president Sultan Ahmad Shah) disapproval of his act. This is obviously in relation to the Annuar Musa-FAM fiasco. Do refer to my earlier postings regarding the issue. When asked if this matter could have been solved internally instead of dragging Annuar to the Disciplinary Board, Tengku Abdullah smiled before saying: “You said it. I’d rather not comment.” (smiling) Read more in today's Mailsport . HD says: Finally, someone is taking the initiative to review the Statute.

Foul! has been nominated for the Favourite Sports Blog award of the 2012 Astro Arena Awards scheduled April 24, 2012. The other nominees are Malaysian Sports , Jaiho Malaysia and Suara Sukan Anda . Below is the full list of the nominees for the other categories Favourite Male Athlete in a Team Khairul Fahmi Che Mat (Football), Bryan Nickson Lomas (Diving), Adrian Ang (Bowling), Cheng Chu Sian (Archery) and Mazli Ikmar Mohd Nor (Hockey). Favourite Female Athlete in a Team Pandelela Rinong (Diving), Png Hui Chuen (Synchronized swimming), Jacqueline Sijore (Bowling), Nur Fatehah Mustapha (Cycling) and Katrina Ann Abdul Hadi (Synchronized swimming) Favourite New Comer Zulfadli Zulkifli (Badminton), Adiq Husaini Othman (Cycling), Aaliyah Yoong (Water Skiing), Jupha Somnet (Cycling) and Muhammad Nazmi Faiz Mansor (Football) Favourite Comeback Sam Chong (Snooker) and Lee Hup Wei (Athletics) Favourite Coach Yang Zhuliang (Diving), Ong Kim Swee (Football), Holloway Cheah (Bowling), John Beasl...