Foul!

What does Merdeka mean?   Pandelela Rinong - national diver, London Olympic bronze medalist “Merdeka means we are free from penjajah and we stand together as one.” Azizulhasni Awang - national cyclist “Merdeka literally means freedom from colonialization but in the new millennium, in the current context of our country, Merdeka reflects our country’s solidarity in the advancement towards being a developed nation and most importantly how we bring about the paradigm shift of our mentality to another level.” K.Rajagobal - national football coach “Merdeka holds a significant meaning to all of us. It reminds us of our grassroots and the ability to be harmonious in our country. Everybody should respect the values. Malaysia is a blessed country and we should not think of the negatives and look at the positives. It’s a country filled with colours.” Sieh Kok Chi - Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary “I’m proud and happy we have progressed so far. My beli...

Those were the words of former international Serbegeth 'Shebby' Singh ( pic ) who watched Manchester United's Under-21 side edge Tottenham Hotspur's Under-21 team 2-1 . Shebby, who is now Blackburn Rovers global advisor, shared his thoughts over the match; Watched Man Utd U21s play our lot (Spurs) last night ... we lost 2-1 to a team that had Lindegaard, Fletcher and Evans ... they scored in the 1st minute and then from a penalty. We outplayed them in the last 20 mins with good passing, flair and movement .... met Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand after the game for a chat .... and their thoughts on the game match mine ..... A few boys looked really good - Ryan Mason - centre mid with good vision and passing ability, kind of a deep lying playmaker ... captain too Harry Kane - a right footed VdV .... in the hole ... looked disinterested but then would take over the game and was a class apart ... he will struggle with English perception of not working hard eno...

"Sepatutnya semua pemain yang berpotensi hendaklah disenaraikan terutama yang masih muda. Yang terbaik tidak kira di bawah naungan BAM atau kelab, hendaklah diberi keutamaan untuk mewakili negara. Cuma Zulfadli mungkin tidak berada di bawah Program BAM kerana memilih untuk berada di bawah KLRC. MSN mengalu-alukan semua pihak yang ingin membantu untuk membangun dan memajukan bakat atlet. Cuma harus dipastikan program latihan dan pendedahan yang mereka sediakan baik dan berkualiti. Zulfadli telah membuktikan yang beliau adalah pemain yang amat berpotensi dgn menjuarai Kej Remaja Dunia dan beberapa kej yg lain. Tapi apakah pembangunan pemain ini sekarang ini selaras atau mencapai tahap sebagaimana yg diperlukan. Kegagalan untuk maju dalam beberapa kej peringkat antarabangsa akhir-akhir ini agak membimbangkan. Juara Sukan Malaysia di Pahang baru-baru ini bukan ukuran kemampuan beliau kerana beliau seharusnya jadi juara di Melaka 2010 tapi beliau tidak mengambil bahagian. Sud...

Artikel-artikel menarik hari ini; 1. Pemain Selangor Asraruddin Putra Omar diintai dua kelab Portugal iaitu Internacional FC (divisyen lima) yang berpusat di Santander dan OS Belenenses (divisyen dua). Baca laporan selanjutnya di sini . 2. Persatuan Bola Sepak Kelantan ingin mengharamkan penggunaan vuvuzela di Stadium Sultan Mohammed IV. Johor FA telah pun mengharamkan vuvuzela di stadium mereka. Laporan penuh di sini . 3. Polis akan memanggil pegawai kanan Persekutuan Bola Sepak Asia bagi membantu siasatan berhubung penyelewengan dana badan induk. Artikel penuh di sini . 4. "REFEREE oh referee, why are you always picking on me?" - jurulatih T-Team Yunus Alif setelah pasukannya kalah kepada Selangor dalam Piala Malaysia tempoh hari, seperti dipetik NST hari ini. 5. The Malaysian Hockey League could be re-branded next year to attract more teams for the annual competition which is on the decline due to poor response - laporan NST . It SHOULD be re-branded. Kudos...

"We need to rethink our participation in the S-League next season. "I will suggest to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) that we carefully consider this and instead go to either Slovakia or Brazil." Those were the words of Harimau Muda coach Ong Kim Swee ( pic ) at seen in Singapore's TODAY . I remember writing about the pros and cons of our youngsters participating in the S-League on June 29, 2011 as seen here . Sadly, my sole reason of starting this blog - for it to be an archive of all my stories - has taken a backseat for the urls linking to my old articles in The Malay Mail are "missing". But I do remember saying our team will be "exposed", adding the Singaporeans will learn more from us than we would from them. And slight over a year later, it has turned into a reality. No disrespect to the teams playing in the S-League but our Harimau Muda lads need a bigger platform and a different environment to push themselves ...

Article below was published in UK's The Telegraph . Former Lotus boss Dany Bahar seeks £6.7m (RM32 million) for unfair dismissal Dany Bahar, the former chief executive of Group Lotus who was fired in June, has filed a £6.7m (RM32 million) law suit against the owner of the sports car manufacturer for unfair dismissal.  By Louise Armitstead , Chief Business Correspondent DRB Hicom, the Malaysian company that owns the loss-making British sports and racing car maker, said in a stockmarket filing in Kuala Lumpur that it had received the legal filing last week - and would “vigorously” defend it. “Dany Bahar was dismissed after an investigation into his stewardship of Lotus,” DRB said in the statement. “We believe we have acted properly at all times.”  The statement added: “DRB-Hicom and Lotus will vigorously oppose and/or defend the claim by Bahar, including filing counter-claims against Bahar.”  Mr Bahar, 40, who formerly ...

Seorang pegawai kanan Konfederasi Bola Sepak Asia (AFC) kini disiasat polis berhubung penyelewengan wang RM30 juta milik pertubuhan itu yang dilaporkan lesap ketika kerja-kerja audit dilakukan baru-baru ini. That was taken from Utusan Malaysia today .  The paragraphs below, meanwhile, was taken from InsideWorldFootball , published four days ago. FIFA suspended Bin Hammam from all football duties for 90 days last month at the request of the other two-chamber Ethics Committee chairman, Michael Garcia, who deals with the investigation and prosecution side. Garcia is deciding whether to throw the book at Bin Hammam over possible financial mismanagement of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) funds when the former Qatari powerbroker was AFC President. The allegations are contained in an audit by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). And this was taken from an Associated Press article by Michael Casey on August 15; The audit said some commercial rights contracts wer...

Chan Kwong Beng, Liew Daren ( pic ), Chong Wei Feng, Arif Abdul Latif and Misbun Ramdan. Those were the five singles shutters who two time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei believes have the potential of being top players, as reported here . Surprisingly, former World Junior and Asian Junior champion Zulfadli Zulkifli's name is missing from the list. Some may argue Chong Wei's five stars have lost their shine a long time ago.But those who stand by them argue these players should have been given more exposure but were constantly forced to hide behind the shadows of Chong Wei. Hopefully those within the list will be able to prove their critics wrong and be champions in their own right. To find another Chong Wei is difficult but it's about trying to bridge the gap between the top shuttler and those around him. And let's also ensure the younger set of players are not left behind and given the same kind of exposure and treatment and the opportunity to play mor...

Well isn’t that what those in the badminton scene are talking about? Let’s not kid each other. Almost everyone, from those who used to be part of the fraternity, observers and those within the stable, are demanding for the removal of BA of Malaysia (BAM) president Nadzmi Salleh. Perhaps they think they can do a better job. Or perhaps they are not fascinated with the fact that Nadzmi had, throughout his tenure, obtained big bucks for the national body and with badminton having secured two silver medals in two consecutive Olympics (Beijing 2008 & London 2012). Then again, perhaps Nadzmi was lucky to have a gem like Lee Chong Wei. And the fact is the sponsors are attracted to the sport simply due to Chong Wei’s achievements and impressive track record. In fact, why should Nazdmi quit ? And if he did, who would then best replace him? Of course many may say the obvious candidates are Nadzmi’s deputies - Al Amin Majid and Tengku Kamil Ismail Tengku Idris Shah . Mokhzani Ma...

It was named after the second Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdul Razak Hussein . It is said to be the premier hockey tournament in the country. This year marks the 50 th anniversary of the prestigious tournament. Yet, there seems to be the feeling that the Razak Cup is just “another” fixture in the national hockey calendar – a tournament that has to be organised just for the sake of it. Aren't most of the best state players currently training with their respective clubs for the upcoming Malaysian Hockey League which is set to commence on Sept 1? The MHL ends on Oct 10 while the Razak Cup begins four days later (Oct 14) in Kuantan. Will the states have enough time to train their full team - with the inclusion of their club players - hardly three days prior the Razak Cup? Will this be fair to the sponsors who are surely wanting leverage from the tournament but will end up getting a bunch of state teams with substandard quality of hockey? I wonder wh...