KUALA LUMPUR – “I have forgiven the coach,” said Abd Halim Bakar, father of a 14-year-old volleyball player who was slapped in the face by the Melaka coach during the 2022 Malaysia Youth U14 Volleyball Championship in Johor recently.
Halim defended the coach’s behaviour, saying that the slapping should not have been an issue.
He also called on the public to stop criticising the coach, known amongst the volleyball players as Coach Hadee.
“I do not see what the big deal is. There are no signs of injury on my daughter’s face. For me, this is nothing. The action (of slapping) is normal.
“If we were to lodge a police report, we would have done so on December 16 (the day of the incident), but sincerely with an open heart, we forgive him. My daughter also does not wish to take any (legal) action,” said the factory technician in an interview video posted by Sinar Harian on Instagram today.
Halim added he was more concerned about the coach’s situation because the latter has sacrificed a lot to develop the sport.
“I want to help the coach because he has contributed a lot to the state and country by developing the sport here (in Melaka).
“He was there to train my daughter from the beginning. Now, she gets to represent the state and won fourth place in the U14 and U16 categories.
“He sacrificed his time, energy, and money, but when something trivial like this happened, everybody wanted to punish him.
“If we were to bring him down because of a small matter like this, the (volleyball) club would not be around anymore.”
The father of five added that he had also asked his daughter’s friend, who was also slapped by the coach and admitted that the slap was normal, and was not meant to hurt them. – The Vibes, December 3, 2022
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