Foul!

As published in Sunday Mail By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — Datuk Lee Chong Wei has never attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. On Friday, he will not only be in Rio de Janeiro for the curtain-raiser but will lead the national contingent of 32 athletes as the flag bearer.   He is the 15th athlete, starting with weightlifter Tan Kim Bee leading Malaya at the Melbourne Games in 1956, to be bestowed the honour.   The Penangnite, who turns 34 on Oct 21, said: “Being the flag bearer means so much to me. This is my last Olympics and to be given such an honour … it’s something words cannot describe.   “I am very proud that I’ve been named the flag bearer, to lead our contingent of 32 excellent athletes during the opening ceremony. To hold the flag up high in front of a large crowd, it will be a memorable and emotional affair. “This will motivate me and I hope to raise the Jalur Gemilang once again when I win the gold medal.”    ...

As published in Malay Mail today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — The BA of Malaysia (BAM) say it is unwise to place additional pressure on Lee Chong Wei as Malaysians continue to bank on the national shuttler to deliver the nation’s first Olympic gold medal in August.   The national body’s acting president Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin Abd Majid said fans should keep calm and not brush aside Lee’s opponents at the Rio de Janeiro Games which will feature the best in the world,.     Lee got badminton fans elated after winning the Indonesian Open yesterday. His journey to the final earned him enough points to top the world rankings — a position he once held from 2006 to 2014.   “We are happy he is back at the top spot in the world rankings but let’s not get overly hyped up ... let’s not be caught in this (frenzy),” he said.   Al Amin, who is also the chef de mission for the Games, said it was unfair to say Lee was the only person capable of cl...

As published in Malay Mail today Reports by Haresh Deol, Vanessa Ee-Lyn Gomes, Wan Noriza Meor Idris and Anith Adilah mmnews@mmail.com.my Sports fraternity in disbelief, demands transparency PETALING JAYA — Athletes and sports officials were shocked and angry over how a ranking Youth and Sports Ministry official had misappropriated RM100 million of the ministry's funds since 2010 without raising any red flags. Mohd Hariff Saleh of Terengganu Cycling Team was fuming upon reading the arrest of the 56-year-old suspect in the news yesterday. Also seized from the official were RM20 million worth of items including 12 vehicles, 40 designer handbags, expensive watches and fine jewellery. His 69 bank accounts which contain RM8.33 million were also frozen. “This should not have happened. The money could have been channelled to the athletes and the associations instead of buying luxurious handbags or jewellery,” Hariff said. “The money belongs to the people, to Malaysian...

As published in Malay Mail today HARESH SAYS by Haresh Deol A SENIOR official claims a senior colleague suggested to “hide or tamper” documents. On any other day, such accusations will warrant a full investigation. But in the case of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), it was a revelation that was video recorded and presumably kept aside.  Malay Mail had last Saturday revealed AFC financial director Bryan Kuan Wee Hoong, in a video recording on July 26, 2012, claimed AFC general secretary Datuk Alex Soosay said “protect me” before suggesting “can you tamper or hide documents that relate to me”. Kuan had, in the video, said the conversation between him and Soosay took place at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil on July 23, 2012, three days before former Fifa investigator Michael John Pride recorded the statement. This was during the 2012 audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Kuan refused to talk when contacted last week. Soosay vehemently denied...

Press release by World Badminton Federation    EIGHT-MONTH SANCTION FOR DOPING VIOLATION Malaysian player, Lee Chong Wei, has received an eight-month sanction for an anti-doping regulation violation. This sanction, imposed by the BWF Doping Hearing Panel, has resulted from an Adverse Analytical Finding of Lee’s sample taken at the BWF World Championships last 30 August in Denmark. That sample contained Dexamethasone, a Specified Substance prohibited "in competition”, the source of which was a contaminated casing(s) of a gelatin capsule(s) containing a food supplement that Lee had been taking. Appearing before the BWF Doping Hearing Panel on 11 April, Lee accepted that Dexamethasone was present in his sample and that he had consequently committed an anti-doping violation under regulation 2.1 of the BWF Anti-Doping Regulations (2009). His argument was that he did so inadvertently and that either no sanction should take place according to Clause 10.5....

As published in Malay Mail today. HARESH SAYS By Haresh Deol THIS is an extension of my column last week. In ‘What are we paying for?’ published on April 8, I questioned why taxpayers are not informed about dealings which involve their hard-earned money. The revelations in the annual Auditor-General’s Report add salt to an already deep wound. At the end of the column, I mentioned all we demand is some form of transparency. Sadly, transparency and accountability are strange words to many, especially government agencies. Civil servants tend to behave as though taxpayers’ money belongs to them and that they are entitled to use (or in most cases abuse) as they please. Little do they realise that even those within are tired and frustrated with such malpractices. One of them is Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed. The Pulai MP, who has been training his guns on several ministries, including the Finance Ministry, was q...

As published in Sunday Mail By Vijhay Vick vijhayvick@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — Sports officials, athletes and observers have lambasted Selangor for adopting the #KitaLawan motto for next year’s Malaysia Games (Sukma). The motto, revealed during a briefing with state sports associations at De Palma Hotel in Ampang on Friday, is the tagline used by jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s supporters who are fighting for his release. The Sukma motto has the words Selangor peneraju kecemerlangan sukan (Selangor spearheading sports excellence) above an eagle’s head and #KitaLawan! below. The meeting was organised by the Selangor Sports Council and chaired by state executive councillor for sports, Amirudin Shari. Amirudin insisted the tagline was “not an issue”. Sukma is the national games participated by athletes aged 21 and below. The 2016 edition is in Sarawak. “It is a tagline associated with resistance. Sukma is a sporting event for the young. It is ...

As published in Malay Mail today. Haresh Says By Haresh Deol THERE are claims of blurred lines and officials unsure who they report too. More importantly, they are unclear where badminton is heading. The BA of Malaysia (BAM) is one of the strongest sports associations in the country but it is no stranger to internal ‘issues’. Conversations with those within give a broad picture of how BAM is being run. There are the bitter few. There are also the diplomatic ones. One thing for sure, badminton has remained stagnant for far too long. In the international arena, only Lee Chong Wei remains the crowd puller. But his future now lies in the hands of an international panel who will judge him on April 11. He is fighting a doping scandal after testing positive for a banned substance — dexamethasone — at last year’s World Championship in Copenhagen. The officials are frustrated and are willing to vent but on condition of anonymity. “Many are taking potshots about individuals ...

Going Nuts by Graig Nunis, as published in Mailsport today. ONE of The Beatles’ most famous songs is All you need is love . In these trying times with another Malaysian affiliated plane mishap and over 200,000 people affected by the worst floods in living memory, we can all do with a little bit of love. Watching and reading how Malaysians from all walks of life Come together to help flood victims have restored faith we can indeed live up to the 1Malaysia slogan — hopefully we don’t need another tragedy to make us realise this. Another unifying force is sports. Remember how we all cheered for the national teams during the Thomas Cup final and more recently the AFF Cup? Yet, there are many individuals who strive to take advantage of sports. Here are some wishes for the year ahead and beyond which hopefully can help stop them. Keep race and politics out of sports It is disheartening there are still some idiots who use the race card. One such person who do...