Foul!

ASTAF, PSM and STL The year ends with these three abbreviations. Who are they?  The Asian Sepak Takraw Federation (ASTAF) is the body that governs the sport in the region.  The Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia (PSM) is the national body of the sport. The Sepak Takraw League (STL) is as its name suggests and is organised in Malaysia. So what's the issue?  In short: a broken marriage and it's killing the kids. How so?  "Malaysia are not an affiliate of the Asian Sepak Takraw Federation (Astaf) after STAM were expelled from the Asian body earlier this year following a fallout with their former president Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail." Read why new leaders are needed fast to revive PSM (or as NST calls it STAM). Now ASTAF issued a directive warning foreign players not to play in the STL . They also barred Malaysian referees from getting involved in STL. But why? STL is viewed as a PSM event - although it is more of an Astro production (or that's how I view it). As suc...

Year in, year out, the media continue to highlight the same sad story of Malaysian badminton. And for 2021, it is no different. The above was the first paragraph from New Straits Times' Fabian Peter published yesterday. The Star's Rajes Paul wrote today : What then is the problem? Why can’t we produce champions or have a thriving development programme? The conclusion that I like to make, like a broken record, is that we lack a workable system. Former badminton stars, Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Roslin Hashim also shared their thoughts following Singaporean Loh Kean Yew's historic World Championship victory recently. They both said now is not the time to play the blame game amidst talks that the Penang-born could have been Malaysia's saviour in the scene. Journalist Asan Ahmad twitter about this not too long ago. It applies to all sports, generally. I quoted his tweet and wrote: Clearly the rot started decades ago. pic.twitter.com/juQqEcFATg — Haresh Deol 🇲🇾 ‏ (@HareshDe...

Press statement by Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) GENEVA - The extremely grave and recurrent incidences of racism, discrimination and abuse in sports, most recently highlighted by the ongoing reports of racism in English cricket, as well as of abuse and harassment complaints in several other global sports, including hockey, gymnastics, football, skating and swimming, have compelled the   Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA)   to go on public record to express its deep concerns regarding the existing state of governance in sports.   It appears that, to date, risk management and public relations are being prioritised over real reforms to effectively prevent and eradicate such practices from the industry.   The  deep-rooted insidious culture of discrimination - as exemplified by the recent case facing Yorkshire County Cricket Club - is entirely unacceptable.  The fact that incidences are still being reported, covering a prolonged period of ...

Piala Malaysia memasuki perlawanan separuh akhir. Malam ini, Terengganu akan menentang Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) dalam aksi separuh akhir pertama manakala Kuala Lumpur City FC akan lawan Melaka United dalam separuh akhir kedua. Perlawanan Terengganu dengan JDT kata orang putih "expected" lah. Suka atau sebaliknya, JDT pasukan terbaik di Malaysia. Terengganu pula lawan yang kuat. Kalau Terengganu mampu beraksi dengan cemerlang, peluang untuk membolosi gawang JDT cerah. Tetapi pasukan yang benar-benar menyinar tahun ini adalah Kuala Lumpur City. Anak didik Bojan Hodak telah melakar sejarah kerana ini kali pertama pasukan ibu kota masuk ke separuh akhir Piala Malaysia selepas 29 tahun.  Dan jika Kuala Lumpur City mampu masuk ke final, ini akan mengimbau kembali memori 80an di mana skuad ibu kota antara pasukan yang gah di negara. Jadi apa yang menarik tentang Piala Malaysia kali ini? Skuad Kuala Lumpur City FC, lah! Buat peminat Kuala Lumpur City, jangan lupa untuk beli buku ...

MySukan TV akan memberi tumpuan kepada sukan-sukan kurang popular, sekali gus meningkatkan peluang menjana pendapatan melalui pengiklanan dan penajaan. Those were the words of the Youth and Sports Ministry Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu regarding his ministry's latest initiative. As reported by Utusan , MySukan TV was set up to promote sports especially at the grassroots. This is indeed good news for the grassroots have lost out on coverage especially by the media. This platform will provide them the much needed acknowledgment. But since it's a ministry-led initiative, several questions come to mind: i. how much has been allocated and spent on this new initiative? ii. what is the monetisation plan? The ministry can't be forking out money forever. And with tax payers' money being used, it's best that the ministry inform the public of its expenditure on this project. This reminds me of the ministry's involvement with Malaysian Today. I leave you with what former M...

The New Straits Times has started a sports podcast. Called 'Timesport: On the Beat', the first show was hosted by NST sports journalist Fabian Peter. Former national tennis player Adam Jaya was the guest on the show. Fabian and Adam spoke about psychology and sports. To listen to the first episode of the podcast, click  https://www.audioplus.audio/nst-podcast/

The process of sacking Datuk SM Muthu as president of the Selangor Athletics Association (SAA) at its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) recently was not properly done, said Sports Commissioner Ibrahim Mohd Yusof. Ibrahim said that based on the association's constitution, suspending or dismissing members who hold positions in it cannot be done through an EGM. "If we look back at its constitution, dismissal or suspension of members who hold office should be recommended by the disciplinary committee after their investigation is done. "The findings then must be submitted to the members of the main committee because they have the power to decide the appropriate action that needs to be taken in resolving the issue," he said when contacted by Bernama. Read the full article here. In short, Muthu is still president of SSA. 

It has to be the much anticipated press statement of the year. And one would expect that such a statement be given to members of the Press via official means. Instead, only a handful of journos were given the statement issued by the Youth and Sports Ministry today regarding the findings of the investigation committee that looked into the events that led to Paralympian Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli losing his gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug 31, 2021. It seems like certain quarters are eager to downplay the episode - yes an episode that saw a massive outcry with some resorting to cyberbullying tactics in the name of bringing honour to the nation. Bah! The findings of the probe on the issue is only the beginning. As I tweeted earlier:   Re Ziyad losing gold medal at Tokyo @Paralympics - Report by @KBSMalaysia investigating committee must be made public. - Will officials, keyboard warriors now make public apology after massive outcry during incident? - This matter isn't over. He...

This is to inform that the memorial service for Ms. Sieh Shen-Nern, the beloved daughter of former Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, will be held at Nirvana 2, M2 Floor, Room 10, Agate Hall No. 16, Jalan Dewan Bahasa, Bukit Seputeh, 50460 Kuala Lumpur. Use Waze to drive to Nirvana 2, 568 Jalan Dewan Bahasa, Kuala Lumpur: https://waze.com/ul/hw283f3fm6 Day 1: 28 October 2021 (Thursday) Visiting Time: 2.00 pm – 10.00 pm   Day 2: 29 October 2021 (Friday) Visiting time: 12.00 pm – 10.00 pm Funeral Day: 30 October 2021 (Saturday) Time: 10:00 am The cortège will leave for cremation at Nirvana Crematorium Shah Alam.

  The above picture was sent to me earlier today. It shows the hall at Wisma OCM, all set for the Selangor Athletics Association extraordinary general meeting this Sunday. It could turn out to be an "explosive" affair - as reported by news website Twentytwo13 yesterday. The main issue will be about the RM110,000 from the association's fixed deposit. The problem is, those claiming that the money is "missing" can't seem to provide any form of documentation to show that the money is indeed "missing". But the series of transactions between Sept 12 and Sept 14 - as reported by Twentytwo13 - raises eyebrows. The transactions amount to RM110,000 and why were they done via the cash deposit machine?  Does this mean that the association now has over RM220,000 - RM110,000 being the fixed deposit and another RM110,000 via the recent transfers to its accounts? If the association has indeed raised that amount of money, I would like to commend those running the...

This appeared in New Straits Times today. B. Satiananthan is right to say "look into grassroots". The problem is - haven't we heard this before. And isn't it obvious? It's 2021 and we are still highlighting matters that should have been normalised decades ago. Question - what is being done to address this? When will we start paying a whole lot of intention and investment into grassroots football (or sports, generally)?  Satiananthan was qouted as saying:  "I am not just talking about the Mokhtar Dahari Academy. It should be holistic changes." Betul!

Today is Hari Sukan Negara. Surprisingly missing from the launch at Wisma KBS in Putrajaya this morning are the other major stakeholders in sports - one of them being the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM). In the spirit of the much touted 'Keluarga Malaysia' concept, one would expect a key official (or two) from OCM to join Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob during the launch event. After all, didn't OCM say it wanted to play a bigger role in the Malaysian sports industry? Oh well. Today is also a day to remember for national diver Pandelela Rinong.  The Sarawakian is among the 17 recipients of the Panglima Setia Bintang Sarawak (PSBS) which carries the title ‘Datuk’ in conjunction with the 85th birthday of the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud today.  Last but not least, Kuala Lumpur-news website Twentytwo13 is the first media organisation from Southeast Asia to team up with Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) to usher sports into a new era of in...

Hari Sukan Negara is tomorrow. More could have been done to inject the spirit of getting active among the rakyat .  HSN, as it is better known, is beyond just getting Malaysians to sweat it out. It is to meet several objectives which include: i. to promote and encourage a sports culture among the people. ii. for sports to continue despite the Covid-19 pandemic. iii. to unite the people through sports. iv. to promote sports industry. Several activities have been lined up. Visit harisukannegara.my for more information. Let's not limit the act of getting active on just one day. Let's do it everyday.  Only then we can truly become a sporting nation.

  Saya telah menerima mesej berikut: "YBhg Dato Seri Zolkeples Embong, bekas ketua pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) dan bekas KPE MASOC KL 2017 telah didapati meninggal dunia berseorangan di rumah arwah. Kematian arwah disedari oleh beberapa pegawai MSN yang cuba menghubungi beliau sejak hari Jumaat apabila mendapati beliau tidak hadir solat Jumaat di Vista MSN, Bukit Jalil.  Pagi ini (Ahad), beberapa pegawai MSN telah pergi ke rumah beliau dan didapati berkunci. Pihak polis dan bomba telah dihubungi dan selepas berjaya membuka pintu rumah, arwah telah terbaring di ruang dapur rumahnya.  Punca kematian masih belum diketahui dan jenazah akan dibawa ke Hospital Kuala Lumpur." Arwah berumur 62 tahun. Mantan Menteri Belia dan Sukan Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Khairy Jamaluddin dan Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican antara mereka yang merakamkan ucapan takziah. Negara kehilangan tokoh dunia sukan yang sungguh hebat. Ketua Pengarah MSN dan CEO KL2017 sewaktu saya di...

  Last month, Datuk Amarjit Singh was booted out of the Olympic Council of Malaysia.  The lawyer lost his assistant treasurer post to Datuk Mohd Nasir Ali, who secured 65 votes.  Amarjit got 36 votes. On Friday, Amarjit - who is the Malaysian National Cycling Federation vice-president - retained his UCI management committee seat at the International Cycling Union (UCI) elections in Leuven, Belgium. He was re-elected for the 2021-2025 term after garnering 38 votes out of 43 delegates. Even he was surprised by the big win. "Honestly, I was taken aback at my winning margin," he told Bernama . Congratulations, Amarjit.  Hopefully, he will be able to explain to local sports fans and officials what it means to be within the UCI management committee - and how will such a position benefit the sport in Malaysia.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker was quoted by The Star as there would be some additional SOP for gyms and sports facility operators. “Once the SOP has been gazetted and published, the operators are allowed to open.” "There were some initial concerns by the Health Ministry about ventilation issues but these are being resolved ." And here's the feedback I received following my tweet earlier today: A gym operator who has had discussions with @KBSMalaysia just messaged me: "Lol no, we have not been informed. We have been told to ‘wait for MKN’s SOPs’." 🤔 Isn't Sept 17 tomorrow? — Haresh Deol 🇲🇾 ‏ (@HareshDeol) September 16, 2021 Ti's ministry has yet to provide any clarification regarding his statement. For starters, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had on Sept 8 tweeted: “This will not take long but because of the nature of indoor fitness centres, we must stress certain ventilation requirements, working on it urgently.” Read ...

The press conference at Wisma OCM yesterday saw a good turnout. Reason? There were those within the hall who were anticipating for a "major" announcement that would see the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) play a more pro-active role in preparing Malaysia's elite athletes for the Olympics. Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu had paid a courtesy visit to Wisma OCM. He was joined by National Sports Council director general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail and several other representatives from other government agencies. But some left dissapointed. After all, such a decision cannot be done overnight as there are many stakeholders involved. I doubt such a big move can be made by December as surely the NSC, among others, would try and justify why they remain relevant in the elite sporting eco-system. I had on Aug 9, 2021 wrote, on news website Twentytwo13 that it is time for OCM to take charge of Malaysian sports after dismal Olympics outing .  In the said arti...

  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob just made this public on his Twitter account . It was the same tweet where he said the Klang Valley will enter into Phase 2 and that interstate travel between Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya will be allowed starting Sept 10. Some were overjoyed, including the gymnasium operators I spoke to this afternoon - as published on news website Twentytwo13 ( Cinema more important than fitness? Gym operators tired of hoping, want clear direction from govt ) But there were those who were skeptical and somewhat "confused" with the announcement. They referred to Ismail Sabri's statement which has made its rounds. Sementara itu, jawatankuasa turut bersetuju untuk melonggarkan SOP bagi aktiviti sukan, riadah dan rekreasi, untuk negeri-negeri yang berada di bawah Fasa 1. Antara ketetapan yang telah diputuskan ialah: • Membenarkan aktiviti sukan indoor, kecuali gimnasium, kepada individu yang telah lengkap dua dos vaksin. • Fasiliti ...

  Among the feedback I received following this morning's tweet by Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu: i. Don't these ministers communicate? ii. Is Ahmad Faizal trying to say Khairy has no wisdom? iii. Can someone please teach Ahmad Faizal how to tweet properly. Dear, Ahmad Faizal - the operators don't want another round of promises. They don't want to read mere words. All they want to hear is - gymnasiums, sports facilities are can now operate. Personal trainers can return to work.  So, when will they be able to hear such an announcement?

  The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) election for the 2021-2025 term was held earlier today.  As president Tan sri Norza Zakaria and his deputy Datuk Hamidin Amin won unopposed, all eyes was on the secretary-general post. The result: Datuk Nazifuddin Najib retained his position after securing 74 votes while Datuk Seri Azim Zabidi obtained 27 votes. There some new faces in the other positions, including Datuk Nasir Ali as the new assistant treasurer. He replaces Datuk Amarjit Singh. All the best to the new office bearers. Hopefully we will see more from them soon.

  All eyes are now on the officials accompanying Paralympian Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli who was “robbed” of his gold medal and world record following a call room violation at the Tokyo Paralympics two days ago. That was the first paragraph of Twentytwo13 's news highlights yesterday. Yesterday was also the day I was invited to share my views regarding the fiasco on BFM's Evening Edition . I tweeted the summary of what I said on the show: #ICYMI Some stuff I raised on @BFMradio : - Why was he late to begin with, where were the accompanying officials? - Some speak about 'empathy' when para-athletes are fighting for equality. Empathy works across broad. - Ziyad has progressed, that's a win! https://t.co/xhAUn0EDkN — Haresh Deol 🇲🇾 ‏ (@HareshDeol) September 2, 2021 Today, a former sports official had this to say: "Tidak kira Paralimpik atau Olimpik, jadikan ini sebagai pengajaran supaya tidak ambil mudah perkara macam ini. Bukannya susah pun menjalankan tugas, perg...

Penjelasan mengenai isu keputusan pertandingan Shot Put F 20 yang melibatkan atlit negara Mohd Ziyad Zolkifli oleh timbalan menteri Belia dan Sukan Malaysia, Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker. Kenyataan di bawah diambil dari Facebook Ti. Salam semua ! Maklumat terkini dari kontinjen Malaysia di Tokyo.  Sebagaimana maklum bahawa keputusan pertandingan Shot Put F 20 yang melibatkan atlit negara Mohd Ziyad Zolkifli yang telah beraksi cemerlang dengan dua kali memecahkan rekod dunia dan menduduki tempat pertama dengan lontaran 17.94 m telah dibatalkan oleh Pengadil  Pertandingan ekoran dari kelewatan Ziyad dan dua atlit dari Ecuador dan Australia melaporkan diri ke pusat panggilan ( Call Rooms ) sebelum acara dilangsungkan.  Keputusan  ini dibuat oleh pengadil pertandingan ekoran dari satu bantahan yang diterima dari atlet Ukraine bahawa ketiga-tiga atlit tersebut telah lewat melaporkan diri dan ini adalah bertentangan dengan Peraturan Pertandingan Olahraga World Para Athletic di P...

Why on earth would Melvin Chia stand as the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary-general? "Why not?" replied a national sports association president. And soon I learnt that the Malaysia Snooker and Billiards Federation president seems to have garnered quite a fan base among the NSAs. I'm aware of talks that Chia was supposedly "planted" to disrupt plans by certain quarters to boot incumbent Datuk Nazifuddin Najib out. Apparently that's the case with Megat Fairuz Khairuddin - the little known Malaysian Sailing Association secretary-general who is also in the race for the secretary-general post. The fourth contender is Datuk Seri Azim Zabidi. The four-way race for a post that was made glamorous by the likes of former secretary-generals Datuk Sieh Kok Chi and Datuk Low Beng Choo - thanks to their personalities - is something we could see at the next general election. Umno, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, PKR and PAS gunning for the same demographic of vo...

It was the first press conference by the newly minted Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and his deputy Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker - but only for selected media.  That itself was a misstep. Ahmad Faizal spoke about ensuring life after sports for athletes and thanked his predecessors for their past work which resulted in some wins today.  He also knows about the efforts to open up the sports industry by former minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican but quickly added that it needs the "go ahead or greenlight" from the National Security Council. With Khairy Jamaluddin being the Health Minister, Ahamd Faizal truly believes the sports lover would eventually allow the industry to operate. But his first press conference also recorded an apology. In short, he said sorry for the " kurang cerdik " remark he made regarding Perak FC's predicament in the domestic league. Ahmad Faizal's statement, via a video recorded that had made its rounds, e...

Even before the Cabinet ministers have reported for duty, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has already learnt a valuable lesson. Being the new kid on the block, one may want to believe that it was an innocent remark by the former Perak Menteri Besar regarding Perak FC in the domestic football league. Ahmad Faizal, had allegedly said on a video : "KBS (Kementerian Belia dan Sukan) tak ada kuasa nak buat apa-apa, tapi itu terpulang kepada MFL, tapi kita kawan baik dengan MFL. Saya dengan CEO baru MFL Stuart (Ramalingam) ini pun kawan baik, dengan Datuk Hamidin (Presiden Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia) pun saya boleh cakapkan. "Baru-baru ini kita ada bincang Datuk Hamidin dan Stuart ada pandangan nak naikkan kepada 16 pasukan sebab ini selari dengan apa yang Persekutuan Bolasepak Antarabangsa (FIFA) tetapkan. Selama ini kita tak ikut FIFA dan mungkin dia orang terpaksa buat begitu. "Kalau itu berlaku, selamatlah negeri Perak. Kalau tak berlaku, kita sa...