MALAYSIA: Speed it up Sports Commissioner

S. Selvam
June 17:

THE pro-tem committee of the Malaysian Taekwondo Clubs Association (MTCA), an umbrella body for taekwondo clubs, has appealed to Sports Commissioner Tan Sri Elyas Omar to expedite their application in order for them to play an effective role in developing the sport in the country.

"Since there is no governing body for taekwondo in the country at this point in time, we have no choice but to form our own association to help the clubs," said pro-tem committee president Chee Hock Choong at a Press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA), the governing body for taekwondo under the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) system, was de-registered by Elyas on May 6.

Only WTF-sanctioned competitions are recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The association was given 30 days to appeal the revocation, which ended on June 6, but it has not exercised that option.

MTA has taken the issue to court.

"We have forwarded our application to the Sports Commissioner’s office and hope that Tan Sri Elyas will be able to approve the application as soon as possible.

"There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the sport and we hope, if approval is given, MTCA can do its part to promote and develop the sport.

According to Hock Choong, the MTCA was the result of a discussion among 30 associate members (clubs) of the de-registered MTA.

MTCA secretary Sonny Lee also clarified that the decision to form a national association of clubs was in line with Elyas’ proposal to the MTA in a dialogue on Feb 16.

In the dialogue, Elyas proposed five models of governance, including forming a governing body for clubs, all of which granted clubs voting rights and direct affiliation to the national body.

"Tan Sri Elyas’ Model 4a referred to a national body for clubs and we are merely following his proposal," said Lee.

"The MTCA is open to any club or organisation that is practising taekwondo under the WTF-system.

"However, any club or organisation that wants to be affiliated to us must be registered with the Sports Commissioner’s office first."


Source from http://www.nst.com.my