S. SELVAM
August 4:
THE "territorial attitude" ofseveral national sports associations is depriving the nation of its best athletes.
While enforcing the Sports Development Act 1997 is an option, Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said emphasised that it was up to national sports association officials themselves to initiate and implement changes to open their doors to more affiliates.
A more open affiliation system, as far as Azalina is concerned, will enable more people to take part in the decision-making processes for the benefit of all parties.
"I believe we should work on an inclusive basis, not on an exclusive basis," said Azalina in Putrajaya yesterday when asked whether long staying sport officials are depriving the younger generation of opportunities to lead an association or sport.
"If the members themselves don’t want to see changes taking place, there is very little that we can do.
"We can use the Sports Act, but this creates a lot of hostility from national associations.
"Sports is about selecting the best athletes. Meritocracy is about selecting the best.
"But as long as some national associations are territorial in their belief, we cannot select the best athletes to represent the country."
Citing silat as an example, Azalina said Pesaka (National Silat Federation) was to be lauded for accommodating the different factions in the sport when it comes to selecting the best athletes for the country.
"If they can do it (select athletes from different factions and schools), I don’t see why other sports cannot do the same," added Azalina in obvious reference to taekwondo.
In Malaysia, only those practising the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) system are allowed to represent the country in multi sport Games sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) like Sea Games, Asian Games and Olympic Games.
There are two other factions in Malaysia, Global Taekwondo Federation and Malaysian International Taekwondo Federation.
Source from http://www.nst.com.my
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