Why Should Sports Commissioner Apologise To Olympic Council

---

 

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) v Sports Commissioner is a match of one-upmanship, acerbic taunts and curious meanderings.
On the one side, the privileged OCM always banging on about being worthy of “special” treatment, and hurt by the threat of deregistration by the sports commissioner.
On the other, the commissioner, Suhardi Alias, whose bare-knuckle approach has not always endeared him to his detractors.
The issue is the sports commissioner having the power to deregister the OCM, a sports body subject to the Sports Development Act.
Section 9 (Act 576) reads: “Subject to this act, the provisions of this act which are applicable to a sports body shall be equally applicable to the Olympic Council of Malaysia and reference to a sports body in those provisions shall include a reference to the Olympic Council of Malaysia.”
In retaliation, the OCM said its status as the umbrella body for national sports associations is guaranteed under the act, and demanded an apology from Suhardi.
It said a parliamentary act does not allow an individual to act unilaterally and arbitrarily against a sports organisation, let alone the OCM which comprises 58 national sports associations.
Suhardi was subsequently accused of “extreme belligerence”, being “hostile” and “having declared war against the OCM and our affiliates”.
I sense that the feud was waiting to erupt, with each party feeling itself superior or in possession of stronger backing than the other.
Suhardi repeatedly stressed that he has the power to delist the OCM during a meeting on Nov 14 between him and stunned representatives from two e-sports bodies.
One of the e-sports groups had sought registration with the sports commissioner’s office but Suhardi wouldn’t have two associations for the same sport.
Some felt that Suhardi was joking about the deregistration, or maybe he wasn’t. But he didn’t expect a leaked audio recording of his remarks to trigger the spat.
Yeoh’s horror
Caught in the middle is youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh, who needs to show some guts and insist that power play sets no kind of example to anyone.
While Yeoh has to put the row to bed without any lingering issues, she should not rush into rash action.
Asking Suhardi to apologise to the OCM for the deregistration threat would be seen as a reprimand to a ministry official who said it as it is, although certainly in a crude manner.
It is a difficult road for Yeoh because such apologies only beget more problems and upset more people, particularly when the ministry is made to look weak against leaders of sports organisations.
Telling the Norza Zakaria-led OCM to stop attacking her official would be courageous on her part but could mar relations between the body and the ministry.
The OCM has emerged as a stronger voice in sports since Yeoh took office, and I am not implying that she is being run over.
In her attempt to strike a harmonious relationship with the stakeholders, she courted the likes of the OCM, the Badminton Association of Malaysia and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
It didn’t quite work out. TwentyTwo13 editor, Haresh Deol, wrote: “By now, if she doesn’t already know it, she would have realised that the ‘passionate’ sports administrators, within and beyond her ministry, would do anything to show who’s boss.”
For someone who is used to being protected from opposing views by a retinue of sycophants, Yeoh must have been acutely nervous when the row broke out.
Suhardi branded one of his predecessors an “idiot” for approving so many sports associations. He followed that through by drawing parallels between the OCM and the Israeli government, and has refused to apologise for the remark.
The clamour for an apology grew louder, with OCM deputy president Hamidin Amin, who is also FAM chief, wading into the quarrel.
Suhardi fired back at the OCM and FAM to say sorry to the Malaysian public for failing to achieve their targets at the SEA Games in May.
Did Suhardi, as suggested by the OCM, go beyond his job scope by touching on athletes’ performance?
When Malaysia actually did poorly at the SEA Games, and the country was in a state of dismay, what’s wrong with the sports commissioner speaking the truth?
The whole affair caused distress and a severe loss of respect within the sporting community.
But don’t be surprised if the whole thing is dismissed as a misunderstanding, or if Suhardi is forced to make a grudging apology. Either way, nobody wins.
It is unlikely there will be a good apology because the ingredients for a meaningful one are authenticity, empathy, the ability to take responsibility, and, finally, a good dose of humble pie.
Whichever way it turns out, waiters would be inclined to put away their sharpest cutlery if these people were seated next to one another at a luncheon to “reconcile” their differences. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

---