Foul!

  The Sports Industry Secretariat, a body under the Youth and Sports Ministry, will host the Sports Industry Expo on Oct 6-9 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. The sports industry in Malaysia has been finally getting the attention it deserves despite conversations about it decades ago. In 2017, the Malaysian sports industry generated RM18.8 billion. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the same year saw 36,511 people employed in the industry, with wages amounting to RM876 million. Twentytwo13, a Kuala Lumpur-based news website, had reported in June that a sports industry exposition is set to be held in conjunction with the National Sports Day in October. The article revealed: The idea (of the expo) is to further promote the sports industry to the masses. The main objective is to spark interest and to obtain the buy-in of the people. For the longest time ever, sports in Malaysia have always been elite-centric, turning most Malaysians into fa...

To reveal the world’s most searched teams, the television and broadband experts at Uswitch analysed Google search data to discover which football teams people are Googling the most in (almost) every country around the world. Manchester United is the most searched club in Japan, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.  It may come as no surprise that the club is among the most popular in Asia, as “the Red Devils” have had some great moments in recent times and even won two Fifa tournaments in Japan, attracting the attention of many fans in Asia. Real Madrid is the most popular football team in the world when each country’s local teams aren’t included. The research shows it is the most searched foreign football team in an impressive 75 countries, the most of any football team, including the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Sweden and Austria. Click on the link to read the full report.

That was a tweet by Malaysia's diving star Datuk Pandelela Rinong. As I wrote last month (June 22, 2022), Pandelela, Datuk Leong Mun Yee, and Nur Dhabitah Sabri are world-class women divers, who are Olympians and household names in Malaysia. Yet, states are struggling to field divers, especially in the women’s event, for the upcoming Malaysia Games (Sukma) The Sukma, scheduled to begin on Malaysia Day (Sept 16), will be held in various locations in the Klang Valley. It is organised by the National Sports Council (NSC). It is learnt that there is also a lack of participation in the women’s gymnastics events. It boils down to the lack of facilities, proper support system and bragging rights. Read the full article on Kuala Lumpur-based news website, Twentytwo13.

1. Saya telah berkecimpung dalam dunia kewartawanan sejak tahun 2000. Saya bermula sebagai seorang wartawan sukan.  2. Ramai yang telah saya temuramah sepanjang karier saya. Saya pernah minum kopi bersama pemandu teksi, lepak sama Pak Guard, berborak pasal PS2 dengan pemain tennis terkemuka Rafael Nadal, duduk sebelah bekas pemandu F1 Mika Hakkinen dalam Mercedes AMG SLS yang dipandunya, serta duduk semeja dengan tokoh korporat dan menteri dari dalam dan luar negara. 3. Saya juga mempunyai blog. Ada yang meninggalkan komen di blog, apa pula yang emel. Ada pula yang DM saya di laman media sosial saya. Sesetangah komen-komen tersebut agak pedas, tetapi sebagai 'Anon' atau menggunakan akaun "private". Saya hanya gelak kerana mereka ini pandai komen but tak berani nak letak nama sebenar. Tetapi saya tidak pernah tergerak untuk membuat tanda pagar (hashtag) bagi individu-individu sebegini. 4. Ada pula atlet dan pegawai yang tidak berpuas hati dengan hasil penulisan atau ko...

  I think sports facilities in the country should be graded. It's only fair to the users / consumers. I've seen poorly maintained sports facilities - both government- and privately-owned. Patrons should not pay ridiculous fees for substandard facilities. Period. So when I was informed of plans to grade sporting facilities in Malaysia, I was obviously excited. On July 5, I wrote that discussions are being held over the possibility of grading sporting facilities in Malaysia. This is similar to the evaluation and grading of food premises by local councils, nationwide. Following the article, venue operators and owners told news website Twentytwo13 that having a set of evaluation and grading criteria for sports centres in Malaysia is certainly the way forward. But they had their concerns too. “Ultimately, the elephant in the room is deciding who will be in charge of the grading process, and how it will benefit the community.” -  National Sports & Fitness Venue Owners and Oper...

The world swimming body has taken a bold decision to restrict transgender athletes in elite women's swimming. The decision was made after Fina revealed it had sufficient evidence to back its decision, adding male swimmers as young as 14 were posting times that would win the Olympic gold medal in the women's events.  Fina will instead create an 'open category' for transgender swimmers to compete in. The president of the world body, Husain Al-Musallam was quoted as saying in his address at the Budapest congress : "I do not want any athlete to be told they cannot compete at the highest level. I understand why transgender athletes want to compete in the gender of their choice ... but we should not favour one athlete over another." “We will be the first international federation to start this work.”  Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender who was once known as Olympic gold medallist Bruce Jenner, supported the move .  "I think it's very good. I have been on this is...

Lee Hup Wei had recently retired as a national athlete. As he turns 35 today, he decided to be the voice of athletes in the national athletics scene, as he takes issue with the debacle involving the Selangor Athletics Association and the Sports Commissioner's Office. Here's his plea , as posted on his Facebook account, minutes ago: "Lebih kurang satu minggu lagi, Sukan Sea Hanoi akan bermula. Sukan Sea amat bermakna untuk saya kerana saya sudah mewakili negara di dalam kejohanan itu sejak 2005 di Manila dan membawa pulang 4 pingat emas. Tahun ini saya tidak mengambil bahagian. Banyak rakan-rakan atlet dan jurulatih yang menghubungi saya. Mereka kecewa kerana tidak dapat mewakili negara dalam Sukan Sea Hanoi. Mereka tidak dipilih bukan kerana tidak layak tetapi atas faktor-faktor dalaman persatuan sukan. Sebagai senior dalam bidang olahraga, saya perlu bersuara bagi pihak semua atlet. Sepanjang 18 tahun sebagai atlet olahraga, konflik dalaman persatuan sukan selalu berlaku....