Foul!

BURDENING consumers with price hikes is not the solution, as Singtel, StarHub and Mediacorp announced an unprecedented partnership to broadcast in Singapore the upcoming World Cup. Collaborating for the first time ever, the three entities had in their joint release today (April 25), said fans will pay the same prices as they did to watch the 2014 edition.  Packages for all 64 matches will be made available on Singtel TV, Singtel TV GO, CAST, StarHub TV, StarHub Go, Mediacorp's Toggle. Singaporeans will pay S$94.16 (RM277.50) for the early bird price which will last till May 22. Those who sign up after that date will have to fork out S$112.35 (RM331.11). Nine matches will be aired on free-to-air television. According to Straits Times , the three companies started discussions last year and paid some S$25 million (RM73 million) to secure the broadcasting rights – a slight increase from 2014. ST quoted Deloitte Singapore and Southeast Asia sports business group leader Ja...

UPDATE (Jan 8, 12.49pm):   Sports are a nation builder and unifying factor. Sports should not be tainted with politically motivated agendas.  To politicians of both divides, don't use sports as a gimmick to win votes. Read the full article here .  --- ORIGINAL POST To whom it may concern, This is in reference to a pledge made by the youth wing of a political coalition, claiming it will broadcast all international sport matches including the English Premier League on state-owned Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) should it win the upcoming general elections. The full report "We'll show the Premier League on RTM if we win GE14, Pakatan Youth offers"  can be read here . I responded through a series of tweets as seen below: I believe my tweets are self-explanatory. For the uninitiated (and those who clearly failed to do their homework before making the pledge), I had touched on this subject in 2015 through my column Haresh Says: Who should Serie A...

Travel channel GoAsean is no longer available on Astro starting today. It is understood those behind GoAsean requested that they be removed from channel 737. It remains unclear why, despite claims by certain quarters the pull out was due to "monetary issues". The 24-hour travel channel, brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Razak, was launched in 2014, as reported in NST . Its objective is to promote tourism and boost economy within the Asean region and is the world's first Asean travel platform. It wasn't smooth sailing for Astro in the early days, as insiders once revealed - a drama best kept for another day. GoAsean, however, continues to post interesting destinations in the region on its website  which has won international awards . Meanwhile, Sarawak withdraws its representative in the Malaysian Tourism Board with immediate effect - the other pull out of the day. Reason? The spat between Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz  and his Sarawak c...

As published in Malay Mail today Haresh Says By Haresh Deol THE inability to plan ahead continues to plague the M-League. The new season kicks off in nine days — Premier League starts a day before the Super League – yet the guardians of the domestic league are struggling to tackle many issues — from broadcasting rights to deciding on the official match ball. This year is supposed to be the start of the “professional era”, a term observers have heard on numerous occasions. But beyond the ties and suits donned by officials, Malaysian football is still amateur in so many ways. Football Limited Liability Partnership Malaysia (FMLLP), the newly-formed body tasked with injecting professionalism into the scene, has yet to secure the broadcasting rights. Its chief executive officer, Kevin Ramalingam, the man who was once part of Kelantan FA, was quoted in Sunday Mail as saying the delay is because MP & Silva is still locked in discussions with pot...

As published in Malay Mail today HARESH SAYS By Haresh Deol IT started with an email from a long-time Juventus fan, Jason Ong. Ong, had in his Aug 13 email, said Serie A fans were disappointed upon learning Astro would not be airing the Italian league. “I would like to ask if there is anything you or Malay Mail can do to help us voice our disappointment,” he said. A Juve supporter for 20 years and committee member of Juventus Club Malaysia, Ong’s frustration is understandable. It mirrored the disappointment M-League fans suffered earlier this year as only selected matches were aired live. It remains unclear if there will be any live matches when the Malaysia Cup kicks-off next month. Upon obtaining clarification, I had on Aug 14, tweeted: “Astro is in the midst of negotiating broadcasting rights for Serie A. Sports ain’t cheap these days.” Yes, sports is not cheap. It was reported on July 10 that Telefonica had bought the La Liga rights for the 2015-2...

As published in Mailsport today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — The fight to secure broadcasting rights for the M-League has taken a new twist as the parties involved have joined forces. And this would bring more cheers to local football fans as there will be a minimum of three live matches telecast on match days. Telekom Malaysia (TM), Media Prima, Astro and Fox Sports had all sent a joint bid at RM60 million per year for the next six years to the FA of Malaysia (FAM) on Friday. The national body is expected to announce its decision tomorrow. The figure is double of Astro’s RM30 million annual obligation which ran from 2011 till last year. Mailsport learnt that the broadcasters decided to team up after learning there were efforts by another party to secure the production which will be later sold to the broadcasters. “The broadcasters have decided to team up. This way, they will be able to commit to the requirements put for...

As published in Malay Mail today. M-League teams want bigger slice of pie By Vijhay Vick vijhayvick@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — M-League teams want their share of the pie increased when the FA of Malaysia (FAM) sign a new bumper M-League sponsorship deal. Under the current RM30 million-a-year deal with cable television operators Astro, each of the 12 Super League, Premier League and FAM League teams receive RM350,000, RM250,000 and RM50,000 respectively. There are also incentives based on league placings. The grants work out to a mere RM7.8 million — meaning FAM keep the remaining RM22.2 million to run the league, pay incentives for league placements and for other expenses such as RM15,000 to home teams and RM5,000 to away teams for matches shown live. Malay Mail spoke to several state FAs and clubs regarding the new deal which could be worth in excess of RM70 million and they unanimously indicated the need for a bigger pay cheque. “I can’t put a figure on it but the amount must ...

As published in Sunday Mail today Malaysian badminton fans have been left disappointed for far too long and only by winning the Thomas Cup would renew their faith into the sport, says Tan Sri Elyas Omar. Elyas, who was the Badminton Association of Malaysia president when the nation last won the prestigious tournament in 1992, hoped the national shuttlers would remain composed as they take on Japan in the final at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi, India, at 3pm local time (5.30pm in Malaysia). “Yes, of course (fans have been left disappointed) ... for the past 22 years,” said Elyas, who was also former mayor of Kuala Lumpur. “This is the best chance and I believe they did not even expect to play in the final given the line-up but let’s not put pressure on them, let’s motivate them instead.” Elyas said the players must overcome the pressure and maintain their fighting spirit instead of being jittery on the court. He recalled the motivational words he uttered to former ...

Most Malaysians suffer from withdrawal symptoms when football takes a break from June to mid-August yearly. Some go through pain as if the spice of their life has gone missing. They struggle to look for something else to do, especially over the weekends. Most mamak eateries report a drop in customers as well.   Imagine this scenario being repeated each month and there is no football over television, week in and week out — no staying awake or getting up in the wee hours of the morning to watch football on weekdays.   Strange as it may sound, this imaginary scenario could well be a reality should Astro decide to pull the plug on showing football due to the escalating costs of bidding for matches to be telecast over the satellite network.   Astro is increasing their subscription rates for the sports package by RM6 per month from Nov 24 and this may not go down well with sports fans. Read Astro's justification - from the price hike, bad reception and repeated...

Former West Ham, Everton and Selangor player Tony Cottee, former Perak coach Steve Darby and I were at the 'lounge' at Astro Arena as we briefly discussed about the Netherlands-Denmark Euro 2012 clash that ended earlier this morning. Tony and Steve believed Netherlands were the better side prior the kick off but I insisted that Denmark could pull a surprise as the Dutch side were placing too much of pressure upon themselves - too much that even before the competition started Van der Wiel was speaking of defeating Spain 2-1 in the final as seen here . The match ended as a Danish delight as Michael Krohn-Dehli ( pic ) scored the solitary goal in the 24th minute. It has been an interesting start to the Euro 2012 as evident in the Poland-Greece curtain raiser which saw two red cards flashed and a match that ended in a 1-1 draw. Catch the Euro 2012 discussions on the Astro channels - namely Bual Bola (5pm) on Astro Awani and watch the matches live on Astro Arena (801) and ...

I was a guest on Bola@Mamak (Astro channel 811) earlier. The others involved in the show were BFM's Ross Yusof , Anand - or better known as the Orangeman - of HooHa!, concert organiser Leonard Chua who is also a loyal Tottenhan Hotspur fan since 1979 and host Adrian Jalaludin . ( pic right ) It is supposed to be more of an EPL programme but the producer Nicholas John was bold enough to incorporate a handful of topics surrounding our national team. Prior the show I was 'forced' to sign up with the Malaysian Tottenham Hotspur Fan Club. Spurs fans Syahizan Amir Abdul Wahab - a legal eagle - and Andrew Lim came armed with forms and I was left no choice but to part ways with RM100. During the show we spoke about Australia-Malaysia clash, the dilemma faced by Olympic coach Ong Kim Swee and the lack of pitches in the country. There was also a debate surrounding USA goalkeeper Hope Solo's (pic left) decision to strip for the camera. Last but not least we had Prema Yin - sis...