It's all about power and money

Haresh Says, as published in Mailsport today.

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“I don't understand these people lah. They cannot take over an organisation, they try their luck with another. What is their agenda? What do they really want?”

This was a conversation I had with a senior sports official.

It is learnt several individuals, who were eager to occupy positions within a big sporting organisation recently but failed, are now trying to place themselves in an association which has been somewhat forgotten.

Is Malaysian sports so lucrative that folks are dying to be part of it?

Then why football associations including the KL FA are still struggling to pay their players? Why football giants like Kelantan, Selangor and Perak — despite their rich history — do not own stadiums? Why Perlis and Penang continue to beg for the state government to fund their football teams?

Why some age-group badminton teams do not have money to buy proper attire for their shuttlers?
Some associations struggle to hire a full time coach or even come up with a reward scheme for their athletes.

A retired official once said; “Sports is just like politics. People want to occupy positions to feel important, rub shoulders with the bigwigs hoping to get a tender or two with the ultimate goal of receiving a Datukship.

It’s a shortcut to success.” This is no where near professionalism. Such an attitude will frustrate the nation's cause of turning Malaysia into a sporting hub.

We are in dire need of calibre individuals to run the show. Leaders who will not treat an association like a private playground, who are well versed with sports administration and are committed to the organisation. Sports officials, including government SERVANTS (as they tend to forget), need to be proactive and come up with short, middle and long term plans. There must be continuity instead of a fixated desire to leave a legacy.

Kudos to the handful few who have done a fine job.

To the rest, you will only be respected based on your work and not for the money you have made or number of Datukships you receive.

Haresh Deol is a news editor with The Malay Mail. He can be reached at
haresh@mmail.com.my or Twitter @ HareshDeol

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