COMMENT | Money and politics are killing sports
COMMENT | Long before entering politics, former Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris was already involved in football. After closing his chambers in Klang, where he was a magistrate, he would walk across to the Klang Padang to watch the local league.
This is where he would do talent scouting and pick players for the Tamilian Physical Culture Association (TPCA) where he was an active member.
He went on to become the state government leader but even before that, he was already helming the Football Association of Selangor.
Rated as one of the best sports administrators in the country, Harun’s stewardship saw Selangor winning the coveted Malaysia Cup several times. He was also the manager of the Malaysian football team that qualified for the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Harun, it is said, was so passionate about sports that he spent time, effort, and money promoting it. In the process, he found employment for sportspersons in Selangor government entities, especially the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).
At one time, PKNS employed stars like Mokhtar Dahari...COMMENT | Long before entering politics, former Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris was already involved in football. After closing his chambers in Klang, where he was a magistrate, he would walk across to the Klang Padang to watch the local league.
This is where he would do talent scouting and pick players for the Tamilian Physical Culture Association (TPCA) where he was an active member.
He went on to become the state government leader but even before that, he was already helming the Football Association of Selangor.
Rated as one of the best sports administrators in the country, Harun’s stewardship saw Selangor winning the coveted Malaysia Cup several times. He was also the manager of the Malaysian football team that qualified for the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Harun, it is said, was so passionate about sports that he spent time, effort, and money promoting it. In the process, he found employment for sportspersons in Selangor government entities, especially the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).
At one time, PKNS employed stars like Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh and R Arumugam, as well as a string of hockey players – both at state and national levels.
He also ensured they were suitably rewarded above the RM5 training allowances they received. He arranged for taxi licences for some and gave them priority to buy property developed by PKNS.
Harun enjoyed praise and adulation. Almost every other day, his photograph appeared in the newspapers.
It was such exaltation that inadvertently changed the facade of sports by attracting politicians and wannabes who saw sports as a springboard to their future.
Degradation of sports
Sports would give them opportunities to hob-nob with VIPs, business tycoons, and even royalty. Some state associations changed their constitutions to make the mentri besar as the president and empowering him to appoint key officials.
Elsewhere, golf clubs on state land had to “surrender” the clubs to the state government which decreed that the state secretary shall be the president and would appoint key officials in the management committee.
Politicians carried their baggage with them upon assuming office, especially issues related to race, religion, and money.
With that, the multiracial facet of sports changed. Money became a great mover and sports, especially football, took a nasty knock with allegations of match-fixing.
Racism, too, had crept in with one MP demanding to know why only athletes of a certain race won gold medals at the Asian Games.
Fauzi Omar, former Malay Mail editor and New Straits Times sports columnist quit writing sports. In his final column on June 27, 2000, he wrote: “After 25 years of presenting the many wonderful and not so wonderful facets of Malaysian sports, I have decided to bow out because I choose not to be part of the total politicisation of sports – its total corruption.
“From football to cricket, the game has been compromised. Sold out, lock, stock and barrel and I fear, I too will become tainted if I stay. The final straw which broke the proverbial camel’s back is the creeping malevolence of racism.”
Many sports officials were no longer driven by love or passion but more for the spoils of the office. Some sports associations became conduits for large-scale corruption.
Seven years ago, the Paralympic Council of Malaysia discovered RM4 million was missing from its coffers. Upon investigating, the president owned up and said he and his son “invested” the money in a fund which went belly up.
As the nation’s fortunes in sports continue to dwindle, added to the indifferent stance taken by some officials, we have to ask: What can be done to bring us back to our glory days?
People of integrity needed
I have always said that sports should be run by sportsmen and sportswomen because they understand the issues related to the game. Some associations are helmed by officials whose only involvement in sports is that they had played for Yellow House or Blue House in primary school.
These days, one can’t but help notice officials rushing to the arena to hug the players or take selfies with them to be posted on social media.
Besides, we need people of integrity to run the show, not high-level civil servants or politicians. We need people who will be accountable for every sen spent.
Former Malaysian Hockey Federation secretary G Vijayanathan’s autobiography describes some episodes of his more than 50 years with the game as a volunteer.
While working as a financial clerk in the Selangor Education Department, he also doubled up as the organising secretary of the 1975 World Cup.
In the days when computers and email were unheard of, Viji used to do his duties by depositing the monies received for the day, after which he would drop in at the post office to post letters that he had typed at home.
When Malaysia won the bid to host the 1998 Commonwealth Games, someone remarked: “No need for all the committees. Get Viji, (Sieh) Kok Chi (former secretary of the Olympic Council of Malaysia), and (the late) Paul Mony (then secretary of the Football Association of Malaysia).
“Give them a typewriter each and a cyclostyling machine with lots of stencils. They will make it happen.”
Despite a full-time secretariat with paid staff, the organisers of the games haven’t produced the accounts after 24 years. This speaks volumes of the “good governance” practised.
What is needed are people of their calibre. Where are the Vijis, the Kok Chis and Monys? There are many around but have turned their backs because, like Fauzi, they don’t want to be associated with crooks who masquerade as officials.
The state of affairs in sports can be viewed as a microcosm of the current government where colour matters most – the colour of the attire, the colour of the skin, and the colour of the money.
Is it too tall an order for change because the issues are entrenched? But if we do not start somewhere to make the change, we will remain as bystanders as the system continues its descent to doomsday.
R NADESWARAN started his journalistic career as a sports reporter and has been a close observer of sports and its administrators. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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