SPORTS Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said may be a strong advocate of developing an active club structure but the Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA), based on advice from the Sports Commissioner’s office, shut affiliation to clubs at their extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The decision to rescind the clubs' associate membership with MTA, however, could sound the death knell to one of the most thriving and productive club structures in the country.
But as far as MTA chairman Chin Mee Keong is concerned, the association was merely following advice from the Sports Commissioner's office in amending their constitution.
"The clubs were described as associate members by MTA, but the Sports Commissioner's office advised against doing this," said Mee Keong after the EGM and flag handing ceremony to the national team for the Asean Taekwondo Championships in Jogjakarta.
The two-day championships begin on Saturday.
"In adhering to the advise, all clubs will now be affiliated to the respective State associations.
"We have amended our constitution to reflect this and will be asking our State affiliates to do the same to accommodate the clubs." Azalina is a keen supporter of the club structure to enhance grassroots development, and even assured active clubs of direct funding as long as they are able to meet certain requirements.
In fact, even the Sports Advisory Panel, headed by FA of Malaysia (FAM) vice president Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad, recommended that active clubs be given voting rights and a say in determining the leadership of the association.
Timesport have also led the call for active clubs to be granted voting rights while State associations should no longer view voting rights as their divine right.
MTA have some 40 clubs affiliated to them and an inter-club competition that is almost on par, in terms of quality, with the national championships and have been a constant supplier of talent to the various national squads.
For the Asean championships, MTA will be sending two squads (seniors and juniors), comprising 21 exponents. From the total, 14 exponents are products of clubs.
MTA's youth championships have also been dominated by clubs with Bangsar Taekwondo and Fitness Centre (BTFA) winning the overall title for the third consecutive time last year.
Mee Keong, however, refused to blame the State associations for the lack of quality exponents coming through their system.
"All these clubs were under States last time but decided to operate independently. This is why most of the national exponents are from clubs. "The Sports Development Act also states that associate members can only be from individual members, and they cannot be accepted as full members.
"As such, we have to re-term the clubs, and one way is for them to be affiliated to the States." And deny the clubs a say in determining the leadership of the national association.
The squads: Senior: Men: Rusferdy Tokan, R. Surendran, Syed Taufiq, Wong Kai Meng, Mohamed Fazmi Nuazmi; Women: Elaine Teo, Noornadia Norrizan, Noordiana Norrizan, Chee Chew Chan.
Junior: Boys: Syahiran Ahman, Ahmad Syubli Mohamed, A. Logaraj, K. Hemaraj, Nik Izzat Hanafi Nik Zainal, Jeffrey Kiang; Girls: Adriana Noryasmin Arshad, Nurul Asfahlina Johari, Koh Jen Li, Nurul Afiqah Harun, Hue Seow Ching, Novie Sondiq.
Source from: http://www.nst.com.my
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