The Malaysian Hockey Federation, at its Council meeting after the AGM on October 31, decided to retain Nur Azmi Ahmad, the victorious Deputy President who retained his post at the elections, at the Chairman of the National Team Management Committee.
And true to form, as the Deputy President who is well known for ability to twist the facts and business acumen, has since created one mess after another in MHF.
It is learned that the National Assistant Coach, Nor Saiful Zaini has returned the cash incentive that was given by the MHF to the players/officials of the team that won silver at the recent Asian Games. Saiful, it is believed received a token sum, no where near the sum the other two coaches in the team received. And we salute Saiful for his stand in not accepting the money.
To determine the amount, it was the Deputy President who was responsible, and given the fact that he is the Chairman, it is only fair that he clarifies as to why Saiful has returned the cheque to MHF on December 16, the day of the Press Conference of the Charity Shield.
Fair enough Saiful was not with the team in China, but it was Saiful who trained and toiled with the rest of the coaches in Malaysia. Was the amount given reflective of Saiful's contributions to the team?
And that is not the only time that the Deputy President attempted to play god, for the national players were also short changed upon their return from the tournament in France that they won in August.
For every win, the President of MHF had set an incentive bonus of RM1,000 per player, but the Deputy President and another key administrative official reduced it to RM500, and told the President that the tournament was not sanctioned. The issue of sanction was then dispelled when a team official pointed out that the tournament was in the FIH calendar. But the players eventually received on RM500 per win, no thanks to the Deputy President.
Next we have the issue of Tai Beng Hai, the assistant coach who saw a reduction of his salary when Stephen van Huizen was roped in. Though NSC, the paymasters could only afford a certain budhet, they told MHF that the national body could assist by topping up the salary.
An appeal was made by Beng Hai, but even after the Asian Games, he received no reply on the matter, despite the National Team Management Committee having supposedly met in September.
So is there such a committee to deliberate on the matters or is it left to the whim and fancy of the Deputy President? Perhaps its time for the MHF President to take stock of the situation.
Next: Who represented MHC at the FIH meetings and do they have locus standi?
