KUALA LUMPUR – Given the recent membership crisis faced by national sports associations with world governing bodies, the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has taken steps to avert such issues from happening in the future by forming the OCM membership committee to assess and set the criteria for new affiliate members.
This was announced by OCM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria during a press conference minutes after the OCM executive board meeting at Wisma OCM yesterday.
Chaired by Norza himself, he says the committee intends to hold further discussions with the Sports Commissioner in how best to deal with issues that could arise between OCM’s member associations and international sports bodies.
One issue that led to the formation of the committee is the recent sepak takraw fiasco, which has given rise to the expulsion of the Malaysian Sepak Takraw Association (PSM) in May 2021 from the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation (Astaf) after PSM president and Astaf deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail was sanctioned for sending a letter to the Asian Olympic Council and International Olympic Committee in February 2021.
This led to another body, the Malaysian Sepaktakraw Confederation, being established as the sport’s new national association after receiving support from the Sports Commissioner and the Youth and Sports Ministry.
The other situation that led to the formation of the OCM membership committee was the inability of the Malaysian DanceSport Federation (MYDF) to gain membership into OCM despite it being recognised as the national association for dancesport by the international body.
MYDF, who have had their membership requests turned down repeatedly by OCM despite their affiliation to the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), believe that OCM’s continuous rejection of their membership request is due to the potential conflict that may arise between MYDF and Malaysian DanceSport Berhad − the current national body for dancesport – which incidentally is not recognised by the WDSF.
Although the membership status of MYDF is still ongoing, according to OCM secretary-general Datuk Mohammad Nazifuddin Najib, the OCM membership committee aims to resolve this issue and others like it in the near future.
Meanwhile, Norza also said that the full list of athletes that will be heading to the 2022 SEA Games will be announced after March 12.
“We have about 580 athletes and almost 200 officials that will be going for the Games and we need to ensure that proper health and safety protocols are addressed.
“The National Sports Council has also announced the implementation of a sports bubble two weeks before the athletes leave for Hanoi,” he said.
Norza also went on to thank the government for the additional funds allocated for the national contingent.
Recently, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu announced that the Podium Programme will continue until 2025 with a monetary allocation of RM240 million.
The allocation aims to help athletes prepare for upcoming international sporting events, such as the SEA Games in May.
“It has assisted us greatly in terms of preparations.
“We are very happy with the announcement and there have been no hiccups in our preparations,” he added.
He also congratulated Malaysian alpine skiers Jeffrey Webb and Aruwin Salehhuddin for representing the country and for their contribution at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. – The Vibes, March 9, 2022
