FMT:
No excuse for poor SEA Games showing, says footie legend
Santokh Singh says the country’s sports officials had enough time to prepare for this year’s games in Phnom Penh.
Malaysia’s SEA Games contingent making their entrance at the opening ceremony. They finished 7th out of 11 countries in the medals tally. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: A football legend disagrees with youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh that political instability has contributed to the country’s poor showing at the SEA Games in Cambodia.
Santokh Singh said sports administrators would have had enough time to prepare for this year’s SEA Games, regardless of the changes in government over the past five years.
Cambodia was announced as this year’s SEA Games host in 2015.
“They have got no other excuse… Whether the government changes or not, your athletes should be training well,” said Santokh.
“You have to have the right officials in the right place to save sports. (Now) you’ve got people who are just merely warming the bench, that’s all. They are not doing their work. The solution is to get people who are really interested in sports and who really want to do the job.”
Yesterday, Yeoh said the multiple changes in government in the past few years has contributed to Malaysia’s dismal medal haul at the recently-concluded SEA Games in Cambodia.
The Malaysian contingent failed to achieve its 40-gold medal target, finishing seventh in the 11-country tournament with 34 gold, 45 silver and 97 bronze medals.
Santokh said that Yeoh should not be blamed for the poor results as she took over the post only in November.
“But down the line, what were they doing? There were no changes there, so they should have been more prepared. Sports bodies and associations should have done a way better job.”
Olympic Council of Malaysia president Norza Zakaria told FMT that Malaysian sports should be “institutionalised” so as to prevent it from being “affected by any changes in politics”.
Noting that tournaments such as the Olympics and Asian Games are held every four years, and the SEA Games on a biennial basis, Norza said it was essential that the country has programmes to prepare for these competitions that are “free from political adversity”.
“I do agree with Hannah, because policies that were implemented in the medium to long term could not be fulfilled as every new government came in with a different way of looking at things,” said Norza.
Changes in governments resulted in different allocations being earmarked for sports, leading to “stop-start programmes”. Norza said this reliance on government funding could be remedied by greater private sector sponsorship in sports, adding that companies should be given incentives to do so.
PETALING JAYA: A football legend disagrees with youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh that political instability has contributed to the country’s poor showing at the SEA Games in Cambodia.
Santokh Singh said sports administrators would have had enough time to prepare for this year’s SEA Games, regardless of the changes in government over the past five years.
Cambodia was announced as this year’s SEA Games host in 2015.
“They have got no other excuse… Whether the government changes or not, your athletes should be training well,” said Santokh.
“You have to have the right officials in the right place to save sports. (Now) you’ve got people who are just merely warming the bench, that’s all. They are not doing their work. The solution is to get people who are really interested in sports and who really want to do the job.”
Yesterday, Yeoh said the multiple changes in government in the past few years has contributed to Malaysia’s dismal medal haul at the recently-concluded SEA Games in Cambodia.
The Malaysian contingent failed to achieve its 40-gold medal target, finishing seventh in the 11-country tournament with 34 gold, 45 silver and 97 bronze medals.
Santokh said that Yeoh should not be blamed for the poor results as she took over the post only in November.
“But down the line, what were they doing? There were no changes there, so they should have been more prepared. Sports bodies and associations should have done a way better job.”
Olympic Council of Malaysia president Norza Zakaria told FMT that Malaysian sports should be “institutionalised” so as to prevent it from being “affected by any changes in politics”.
Noting that tournaments such as the Olympics and Asian Games are held every four years, and the SEA Games on a biennial basis, Norza said it was essential that the country has programmes to prepare for these competitions that are “free from political adversity”.
“I do agree with Hannah, because policies that were implemented in the medium to long term could not be fulfilled as every new government came in with a different way of looking at things,” said Norza.
Changes in governments resulted in different allocations being earmarked for sports, leading to “stop-start programmes”. Norza said this reliance on government funding could be remedied by greater private sector sponsorship in sports, adding that companies should be given incentives to do so.
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