If NSC has an 'election' who will your candidate be?

The general election fever is here. Quite a number of familiar faces in the sports scene will be trying their luck for a place in Parliament.

They include Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who was dropped by Barisan Nasional (BN), and now plans to contest against BN to defend his Arau parliamentary seat. There's also Datuk Seri Megat Zulkarnain Omardin who will be going up against Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and Datuk Seri Azmin Ali in Gombak.

Now imagine if the National Sports Council had an 'election'.

Its director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail turned 59 on Sept 28. I've been hearing him say "penat lah" (tired) since Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was Youth and Sports Minister. 

It's not easy being in the hot seat - dealing with four ministers (and their four different agendas) since 2018. Then there's shortage of funds and national associations that remain overly reliant on the government's money via NSC.

Regardless if Ahmad Shapawi leaves once a new minister enters office, or remains in office for another year, I've been told that certain quarters have already been "lobbying" for the top post.

I would like to believe that Ahmad Shapawi has started his grooming process. If there was one thing I disagreed with the late Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, it was that he never really groomed anyone to fill in his big shoes. 

I truly hope we won't see the same happening in NSC.

More importantly, let's not be short-sighted (no pun intended). 

The potential candidate must look at sustainability and ensure NSC is able to raise its own funds in the long run. He/she must keep up with the evolution of sports. 

I can see two possible candidates, but let's keep that for another day. 

After all, just like in politics, you can name your candidates but it will only be certain on nomination day.

So if NSC had an election for the director-general's post, who would your 'calon' be?