Hey officials, what have you been doing all this while?

Sports blogger Satwant Singh Dhaliwal (SS Dhaliwal) tweeted this hours ago:

And my reply to that tweet was:

Why I said that?

1. Our 'so-called' (sports) leaders seem to do as they please. No one monitors them, ensures they keep to their words and there is no Key Performance Index (KPI) set for them.

2. We have spent years, no decades actually, reading and speaking about the same thing (most of the time uttered by the same people).

3. Why should there be any respect or attention given to officials who fail to deliver? And despite failing to to do their jobs, the same faces continue to run the show.

4. Many of our officials surround themselves with lackeys (or better known as macai). As such, these officials think they are God's gift to Malaysian sports.

5. We have been harping about finding another Lee Chong Wei even when Datuk Seri Nadzmi Salleh was BA of Malaysia president years ago. We have been hoping that the national football team - with the huge attention and allocation the sport has enjoyed for decades - would taste success at the international stage. But clearly the system, practiced over the years, has failed - as I wrote recently.

6. Why have we allowed the rot to take place? If we had responsible and accountable leaders, they would set targets - and when they fail to meet such targets they would address it or do the respectable thing by leaving and allowing someone else to do the job.

7. But that's not the reality. We have seen leaders hog positions for years (if not decades). Despite public outcry, they still enjoy the perks that come with the post and go about behaving like the untouchables.

8. It is no thanks to these officials that some sports fail to deliver. Given the world class facilities, expertise and talent we have, we should be aiming for achievements at world meets - not just being contended with an outing at the SEA Games or other Southeast Asia meets (ie AFF Cup).

9. Officials are often elected based on popularity, not due to their capability. They behave like bosses when they are supposed to be servants of the sport.

10. Look at the officials and/or leader of your respective sports association - have they set targets for themselves? Have they achieved those targets? Have they documented how and why those targets succeeded or failed? 

And then ask yourself: what have you (or your), 'Oh great and mighty leader', been doing all this while?