A STATE Cricket Association chairman is puzzled why the Malaysian Cricket Association's (MCA) past president, Mahinda Vallipuram is making statements and appointments though he is not officially recognised as the lawful president by the Office of the Sports Commissioner (PJS).
The chairman who preferred not to be named said the official president of the MCA as recognised by the sports commissioner is Mohammed Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali, while Dr Arun Kumar Beshamber Nath is the deputy president and Amarjeet Singh Wazir Singh, honorary treasurer.
"Why is Mahinda issuing statements and making appointments as if he is the president?
"They are clearly defying the sports commissioner and action must be taken to stop this nonsense and set the record straight," he told The Vibes.
It was earlier reported that there was a conspiracy by certain members to overthrow Mohammed Iqbal and his deputy.
Certain parties were trying to coax state chairmen to sign a petition to hold an emergency general meeting with the singular aim of removing the president and deputy president.
The controversial meeting was held on April 27 where Mahinda and Datuk Ahmad Feisal Ahmad Tajuddin, who claimed to be the acting president allegedly pushed through motions that were not even listed on the official agenda. Ahmad Feisal is also the Treasurer of the Olympic Council of Malaysia.
It was learnt that another individual behind the conspiracy to overthrow Mohammed Iqbal was Gordon Chung, who is the vice-president of Sarawak Cricket.
A member of the MCA exco claimed that Chung is guilty of intimidation during exco meetings. The same member stated that since there is an ongoing police investigation with regards to alleged forgery of the original EGM requisition, the results of this investigation should first be completed before anything else.
Mohammed Iqbal recognised as MCA president
Last month, Mohammed Iqbal reiterated that PJS had formally recognised him as the lawful president of the association.
He said the same applied to Dr Arun as the deputy president and Amarjeet Singh as honorary treasurer.
Sports Commissioner Suhardi Alias had also confirmed to The Vibes that his office is investigating MCA over concerns involving misconduct, governance, and election procedures.
Mohammed Iqbal in a letter to the MCA patron, Exco members, all affiliate, associate members and stakeholders, said there exists no constitutional, or statutory basis for anyone to assume, claim, or exercise the role of acting president.
“Such actions constitute a grave and wilful defiance of both the MCA Constitution and the Sports Development Act 1997,”.
He further cautioned that any participation in unconstitutional acts may expose individuals and entities to consequences under both the internal disciplinary provisions of the MCA constitution and the applicable national laws, including the Sports Development Act 1997.
Mahinda's recent controversial appointment
The Vibes learnt that one of the recent appointments made by Mahinda was Gopal Sreenivasan a senior advocate as the Independent Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee.
Gopal is the brother of Datuk Ambiga Sreeneevasan of Bersih fame, and nephew of the late Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram a former Federal Court judge and lead prosecutor in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial.
The alleged coup perpetrators are also accused of manipulating the constitution in their attempted removal of the president and deputy president.
One of the committee members added that Gopal Sreenivasan had recently reached out to "amicably settle the matter".
The committee members had allegedly refused as they felt his 'settlement' was merely to 'accept things and move on'.
Strong support for Mohammed Iqbal and team
A state chairman said since the so-called AGM is under question and not officially accepted, Mahinda has no authority to make any appointment nor spend MCA's funds.
"At the very least, an independent committee should be temporarily appointed to oversee the MCA while a new AGM is called and all states are recognised and allowed to vote.
The Sabah Cricket Association had earlier said they were denied the right to vote at the controversial April 27 meeting.
"Why are Mahinda, Chung and Ahmad Feisal scared to face real democracy and instead resort to such underhand tactics?," questioned the state chairman.
His sentiments were echoed by another state cricket chairman who stressed that the cricket fraternity strongly opposed the unscruplous tactics used by Mahinda, Chung and Ahmad Feisal.
Several die-hard cricket fans who spoke to The Vibes said their support was behind Mohammed Iqbal and his team who had achieved numerous successes.
The most recent feather in the cap was the successful hosting of the second edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. – June 15, 2025
