Foul!

  The guy who runs Bahas Bola is Muhammad Yunus Zakariah. And he also contributes his views on news website Twentytwo13 . Bahas Bola had retweeted Yunus' article that was published on Twentytwo13 earlier this morning , as per the image above. And the team handling the Visi Sukan Negara 2030 Twitter account saw the need to retweet the tweet. So what caught their attention? A debate on sports or the "pointless lockdown"? Or should we instead get Bahas Bola to organise a debate themed: Sports and the "pointless lockdown". Why "pointless lockdown?" Malaysia today recorded 6,276 new Covid-19 cases today - this despite the "total lockdown" that started on June 1. Thirty days on and the daily figure remains above 6,000. Sports, especially those at the grassroots, are crying. It's been an extremely excruciating journey for them.  Brother Khal, who is part of Padang Bola Sepak, tweeted this yesterday: From the grassroots onwards -the government ...

Here's a tale of a lonely athlete. I live abroad, hundreds of miles away from home.  I'm an athlete and have hired a competition manager to help me out. I fork out my own money to cover various expenses, transport, testing related to sports and Covid-19, etc. No one from my national federation has even asked me if I'm getting my Covid-19 vaccine. I take care of my own needs. The only they the national body had to do was to perhaps help me financially. I've provided them with details but my emails have never been replied. I wonder if anyone has read my emails or not. I go for massages only when I can afford it. But I didn't go for a single massage session in the first quarter of the year when I should have due to my training regime. For the record, I am given a monthly allowance of a certain amount but it is not from the national body. I've got to fork out my own money for supplements too. I’d rather use my money for food and rent. I agree in business you must no...

  MIC has decided to jump on the Euro 2020 bandwagon. The political party invites football fans to predict matches for a total prizepool money of RM1,000. This contest, organised by MIC's Youth & Sports Bureau, has caught the attention of former football international Datuk M. Karathu. He said he "likes" the initiative.  Do you like this initiative? Would love to hear your views.

George Heng, owner of Mesuma Sports Sdn Bhd, passed away last night. He was 72. According to his daughter, Maya Heng, George passed away peacefully at 7.39pm surrounded by his family members. George's passing comes as a shock to me as I spoke to him several weeks ago and we had planned to meet up once the lockdown was relaxed. George established his sports apparel shop in Brickfields over three decades ago before moving to 8 Avenue in Petaling Jaya. Founded by George Heng and his wife Tan Yuet Ching, whom I fondly call Mrs Heng, Mesuma was named after their three daughters – Melissa, Susan and Maya. Their youngest child is William. His brand was once the official kit for the national contingent at various multi-sporting events.  He was a down-to-earth man with a big heart who loved food and his Chinese tea.  Farewell, George. You will be missed. Deepest condolences to Mrs Heng, Maya, William and the rest of the family.  Wake service Nirvana Life Mermorial Center 2, Emeral...

  The Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) has issued Nauraj Singh with a show cause letter following the high jumper's recent comment on Facebook . MAF, had in its letter, said: "We do not tolerate such unscrupulous and unethical statements of yours which inevitably tarnish the good name of the MAF. Your statement sullies the good name of the Federation and the management and also erodes the public's confidence in them as those uphold the standard and welfare of the athletes. "We will do the necessary to defend the dignity and integrity of our Federation. We trust that you will take note of our concerns and be guided accordingly." The matter was reported by New Straits Times today . Perhaps this is MAF's way of telling athletes that they should voice their opinions through "proper channels".  It will be nice if MAF and Nauraj discussed this matter.  It's not about the act of posting the comments. It's the comments that need to be looked in -...

This morning, my views regarding the national athletics scene were published on news website Twentytwo13. Read   Plagued by controversies, MAF needs to buck up, big time . Right after the article appeared online, I received several phone calls and messages - with one them revealing there's a new WhatsApp group - Reformasi Olahraga Malaysia. So what's the group all about? Apparently, some individuals are on a "fact finding" mission regarding the Malaysian athletics scene. It remains unclear if this is an attempt to push for radical changes within the top management of the Malaysia Athletics Federation. I was informed "many things have and will be discussed in the group" but as for now, there's "nothing to share". I wish those behind this "reformasi" group know what they are doing and that their main objective should be about helping to elevate the sport.  This should not be political, and should not mirror the antics of a particular ...

  Much has been said about Harimau Malaya's performance in the Asian Cup / World Cup qualifiers. Malaysia ended its campaign in UAE with a 4-0 defeat to the host team, lost 2-1 to Vietnam and managed to edge Thailand 1-0. Football journalist Muhammad Aiman posted the picture above on his Facebook page. It's that of Safawi Rasid and Guilherme de Paula Lucrécio celebrating  after the former scored from a penalty against Thailand. Some called the celebration "over-the-top". Others said the fans are just being overly critical about everything these days. Perhaps the fans made the celebration into a big deal as they assumed Safawi had taken a swipe at those who comment (read: criticised the national team) on social media, just before he leaped into the air.  De Paula's celebration after scoring from the penalty box against Vietnam also came under fire. Celebrations aside, I was joined by Padang Bola Sepak's Khalilul Rahman (or better known as Khal) on BFM earlier t...

UPDATE 10.09pm: Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi tested positive for Covid-19 while Khairul Hafiz Jantan was unable to go to Kazakhstan as he was a close contact. Read this Berita Harian report . As per the Berita Harian report, Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk S.M. Muthu was quoted as saying: "Hanya Muhammad Haiqal disahkan positif manakala Khairul Hafiz pula merupakan kontak rapat memandangkan kedua-dua mereka menjalani latihan di Johor. Kedua-dua mereka ketika ini sedang menjalani kuarantin di Majlis Sukan Negara, Bukit Jalil. Muthu also said the other athletes did not show any symptoms and were allowed to go to Kazakhstan. There's something called asymptomatic. Also, infected people can transmit the coronavirus when they have symptoms and when they don't have symptoms .  Just because the athletes are vaccinated, it doesn't mean they cannot get Covid-19. In April,  40 healthcare workers contracted Covid-19 after completing their vaccine shots . I've al...

If you can't go to the gym, you can always bring the gym to your home - that was the first paragraph of Jugjet Singh's article in New Straits Times . National hockey coach Arul Selvaraj was quoted in the article as saying: "Many have invested in treadmills and exercise bikes knowing very well that the Covid-19 pandemic is here to stay for a longer time than expected. Although it is not as conducive as training on the artificial pitch, my players have given their best so far and are not holding back in their workout routines at home. And those with 'a gym at home' have invested for their future although exercise machines are expensive. They have made themselves as comfortable as possible while waiting for the pandemic to ease." However, Olympian and former international hockey player Maninderjit Singh calls it a "wrong strategy". Wrong strategy. Should hv taken "quarantine based training at NSC" like Rugby team. At least could utilize Gym, P...

  Sometimes conversations takes a different turn - voices raised, people get cut off and a vulgar word is uttered in the heat of the moment. And sometimes, the conversation ends with an apology and life goes on. However, according to a report by news wesbite  Twentytwo13 , national discus thrower Irfan Shamsuddin wrote in an email to the Malaysia Ahletics Federation (MAF) that he will only say sorry if MAF general manager Anthony Samy apologised over an alleged heated conversation that took place between the duo recently.  This was following Irfan's email to MAF with the subject: 'Re: Show Cause Letter'. MAF president Datuk S.M. Muthu, however, downplayed the episode. I am not so bothered about the spat. As Irfan rightfully wrote, there are more pressing matters to deal with. After reading the email, I have just one question: Why was Anthony asking Irfan for his national records? Shouldn't MAF be keeping the records? I've repeatedly written about the need to have an...

  In my column in Malay-language news website Getaran , published this morning, I wrote: KOM hairan kenapa perkara ini menjadi isu. Kesatuan tersebut berkata pegawai yang telah disenarai pendek tersebut, antara lain, “tahu undang-undang olahraga, berpengalaman 40 tahun dan fasih berbahasa Inggeris”. Bak orang putih, “So what?” Adakah KOM berpendapat wakil dari MSN and MOM tidak tahu undang-undang olahraga, tidak berpengalaman dan tidak fasih berbahasa Inggeris? Jadi wakil MSN and MOM ke Tokyo untuk makan angin? The last sentence is meant to be read in a sarcastic manner. I'm forced to put this on record as people are just too literal these days. But back to the issue surrounding Lee Hup Wei, his coach and their trip to the Tokyo Olympics. Read Twentytwo13' s article published on Monday to understand the saga better. I have another question regarding the suggestion (or decision) by the Malaysia Athletics Federation to send an official, and not Hup Wei's coach, to Japan. Was...

  Honestly, I was informed of many other things regarding this matter. But they were all verbal conversations between the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) and the concerned third parties. Verbal conversations, when made public, will end up being a "you say, I say debate". But it is confirmed that there were conversations between MAF and the National Sports Council and Olympic Council of Malaysia to send an official instead of Lee Hup Wei's coach. Read Twentytwo13's article today . The higher jumper has booked a spot to the Olympics by virtue of his world ranking. If I were to be Hup Wei, I'd prefer having my coach with me rather than some official. Although I'm a seasoned athlete and have been "jumping for 20 years", I still would want my coach with me.  I hope the good people at MAF, NSC and OCM will make the right choice for the athlete ahead of June 30.  

  Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail has quit as the Malaysia Sepak Takraw Associatin president. He has been president since 2002.  Ahmad Ismail, better known as Tok Mat, appeared on Astro Arena last night. In announcing his decision, he said:  "Pemimpin datang dan pergi, patah tumbuh hilang berganti, namun PSM harus dipertahankan, ini harapan saya." Watch Ahmad Ismail on the show below: Is this the first step towards a new PSM? Will PSM finally move forward? Or will we see Tok Mat returning to lead the association in the near future? Only time will tell.

  Rasvinder Singh is Twentytwo13's latest contributor. And he is based in Singapore. In his first article , Rasvinder wrote: "Singapore was the first to use naturalised players for their benefit. While it did bring the nation short-term glory, I feel the sense of achievement is diluted by the presence of these naturalised players. In the long term, this decision didn’t benefit Singapore at all. What I am in favour of is for players of mixed-parentage or with ancestral links to represent a nation that they were not born in." Rasvinder is a big Malaysian supporter. Now that's pretty rare coming from Singapore. The Harimau Malaya line-up - featuring naturalised and heritage footballers - has been subject of debate in recent days. The discussions intensified after Malaysia lost 4-0 to UAE earlier this morning. Malaysia crushed 4-0 by UAE in World Cup qualifier was the News Straits Times' headline. Utusan published an article  Pemain naturalisasi jadi sasaran kemarah...

A naturalised athlete is one who is not born in the country but has been given citizenship and can now don the national colours. A heritage athlete may be born and raised elsewhere but has one parent who is a citizen of the country where he is able to don the national colours. Now all this depends on the policies of the governing bodies. In Malaysia, or specifically football, we have naturalised footballers and heritage footballers. Last but certainly not least are the local athletes. Below is a tweet by ex-hockey international and Olympian Maninderjit Singh. To certain degree, I disagree with Naturalization of players. There must be a limitation. So far 10. Another one to make a full 11. 🇧🇪 Dion Cools 🇦🇺 Matthew Davies 🇦🇺 Brendan Gan 🇸🇬 Dominic Tan 🇨🇦 Corbin-Ong 🇸🇪 Junior Eldstål 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sam Somerville 🇧🇷 De Paula 🇽🇰 Liridon 🇬🇲 Sumareh — Maninderjit (Mike) OLY (@ManinderjitMike) June 1, 2021 This reminds me of an article written by a good friend John Duerden p...