New committee takes over Johor Karate Association

Gadaffie (second from left) presenting the ad-hoc committee report to Chok during the press conference, witnessed by Shamsul (left) and Johor Youth and Sports Council officer Nor Azreen Md Lasim.

ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor Karate Association (PKNJ) can now focus on providing top-notch athletes for Malaysian Games (Sukma 2020), which the state will be hosting in July.

This comes after the ad-hoc committee, headed by Johor Sports Council (MSNJ) director Mohd Gadaffie Abd Aziz, handed the management back to the association.

PKNJ had been suspended for more than a year by the Malaysia Sports Commissioner (MSC) over various issues.

Under the management of the ad-hoc committee, the association successfully held its annual general meeting (AGM) on May 26 last year to appoint a new committee.

“We are now seven months away from Sukma, which we will be hosting after 28 years, and the Johor government wants to become a new force in Malaysian sports.

“I hope PKNJ, under the new committee, will be able to deliver and help Johor achieve its target of becoming the overall champion at Sukma 2020, ” Gadaffie said.

He was speaking to reporters after handing over the helm of PKNJ to its new chairman Chok Kong Yu in Johor Baru. Also present was MSC senior assistant sports commissioner Shamsul Rizal Sahar.

Gadaffie said Johor Sukma athletes were now 70% prepared for the games, which would see 31 sporting events contested.

“We have identified several sports including karate to help us achieve our medal target. During our time as the ad-hoc committee, we sent in our report to the Youth and Sports Ministry for approval of the new committee, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Chok said the association had several plans to prepare Johor Karate exponents and officials for Sukma and other events in the future.

“We have several officials who are recognised by the World Karate Federation, Asian Karate Federation and Malaysia Karate Federation. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has introduced several new rules and regulations.

“To keep our officials updated, we want to send them to the Karate 1 Premier League in Dubai next month as it will help them and our athletes have a better understanding of the new rules, ” he added.

PKNJ was suspended after several affiliate members who did not pay their membership fees voted in the previous AGM, which goes against its constitution.

This led the body to be suspended on Oct 28,2018.

The association appealed to the Youth and Sports Minister as the issue could not be resolved, leading to the ministry appointing an ad-hoc committee to find a solution.