A lot has been said and written about the budget cut that has resulted in Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) cancelling 14 events at national level. All these events will only be held at district and state levels.
And, the RM10 million for developing football is another issue that needs to be handled properly by all concern.
From what I gather, the budget slash is not specificially at MSSM but an across the board thing that has affected many other ministries.
Are we supposed to cry about it? Well it is sad but this could also be the break needed for the National Sports Associations (NSAs) to take charge of the national level competitions because not having it will eventually affect their sport.
Also, this could also be an oppurtunity for NSAs who have been asking for their sport to be included in MSSM calender, to show their interest and work towards developing their sport from schools. Remember this cancellations is because of money and I am sure MSSM would have no problems working together to "re-organize" the 11 events, if they have a financial commitment from the NSAs.
The NSAs should start thingking out of the box and prepare for new challenges. If all these years they have left the schools part to the government, now they have to run their sport. For now it looks like the NSAs have no choice because the MSSM tournaments are the best to spot talents.
While looking into the various options, the NSAs should also approach Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) to finance the MSSM tournaments. OCM has almost RM25 million in cash and assets, and I believe they would more than willing to help.
The money for football is a different story. I had a chat with Datuk Azzudin Ahmad (FAM General Secretary) recently and I told him if this funds are going to be used for Academies, then it is the same as throwing the money into the sea.
The Academies is a failed system, simply because wrong people were appointed and the wrong people did the wrong selections. Many other factors caiused it to fail.
According to Azzuddin, FAM is aware of that and are now doing the necessary changes. Only time wil tell.
Uncle Joe, OCM having so much money is because of their prudent policy in not splashing money for sports that have no hope in the Games. You must give credit to the grand old man in OCM. Now you know why they have category A and B athletes. Those medal prospect are category A and those no hopers are B.
ReplyDeleteLooking at it objectively OCM is right, you NSA wants to go to the Games and if you want us to finance you, let me see the colour of the medal that you can bring home. In the meantime I fully agree that the NSA must play a bigger role in developing their sports and not depend on handout from the Government or OCM. I will not touch on fooball because that is another story by itself.
The trouble with OCM is this, they may have their plans or their 5 years plan but if you surrender to their plans, you have sold your soul to the devil himself. The old geezer in OCM once told a new sport body, why bother to get funding from the Government, they will interfere into your affairs. If you are passionate about your sport , go and finance yourself. That advice is true.
Now you think OCM will fund you chaps with no strings attached. Hey! 25 mill is a lot of bread, it is alot of money and those money can be used during election time and to buy votes.
You just watch the Board will come up with something just before the election. You think the old geezer will retire? Not a snowball chance in hell and he will remain there forever. Malaysian sports? You think OCM cares? Think again.
The only hope for OCM is to revamp those dead wood and bring in fresh new blood who are action oriented and not talk about fair play when they have no inkling about it.
Why has there been a budget cut for sports? Where has the budget gone to?
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a chance for the NSAs to take a step up and work on getting their hands dirty to maintain the quality of their sports in school level. On the other hand, this cancellation of 14 sports might be an excuse for the school principles to put less emphasis on sports because it doesn't have anything to do with the government anymore.
So, in conclusion, the NSAs definitely need to put their game face on.
Agreed NSA must play a bigger role and they have to be independent. They also have to look out for finance to finance their sport instead of waiting for handout from the Government.
ReplyDeleteSo you do your selection , you have you best runners and are ready for the Games, do you need to go through OCM to pander and beg the Grand Emperor to allow your squad to go?
UNderstand one thing, the Olympic Family Games like the SEA Games and Asian Games, OCM are the body that can send the Team to the Games according to the technical handbook.
Now with this new culture of NSA taking over and hold the event, the Sports Commissioner should make a provision to allow the NSA to send the athletes to the Asian Games or SEA Games without going through OCM.
You may say that if the International Federation does not accept you how are you going to participate. The NSA must be a member of the IF and if the IF can accept them, to go down to the arena, OCM can and should be by- passed. OCM can just concentrate on their category A and not bother Category B.
Uncle Joe, Category B if they want to go for the Games have to pay for everything, the shoes, shirts, track suits, track shoes, Bata shoes, food and accommodations at the Game Village and if you follow the crowd you also have to pay the air fare placed by them.
The NSA have to seek for funds to send these athletes and officials and many have to pay out of their own pockets. They do this because of the love of their sports and they are also proud to don the National colours to represent the country.
In such cases why should OCM , dictate who can go and who cannot go? Are they the better judge than the NSA who has nurtured these athletes all the time.
All said I concede that if the IF does not recognise the NSA then the story ends there. They have no business beong appointed the NSA in the first place.OCM or SC cannot do anything.