Sports hub in Bukit Jalil – a source of glad tidings or embarrassment?

AS the hub of Malaysian sports, Bukit Jalil is either a source of glad tidings or discouraging and frustrating news.

Of late the pitch of the National Stadium, the showpiece of the whole area, has again been a source of sheer embarrassment.

Since the Stadium Board are bent on hosting concerts and other events at the so-called home of Harimau Malaya and at the expense of international football matches or Cup finals, the agency must rethink their business strategies.

Either they provide quality protective flooring as a short-term measure to protect the newly-laid turf whenever they organise a music festival or focus on serving the football fraternity with a world-class pitch the stadium richly deserves.

While the Stadium Board remain under great scrutiny from the public, a stone’s throw from the National Stadium is the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) office, near the National Sports Institute (NSI).

Recently MAF announced their intent to enhance their coaching structure by hiring nine more professionals specialising in three core areas: sprinting, field, and decathlon.

MAF reportedly employs 17 coaches at present, with all probably on National Sports Council’s payroll.

Having come under criticism for the poor returns in terms of medals at SEA Games and Asian Games levels, MAF are desperate to elevate the standards of their athletes.

Although the contingent returned to the Asian Games podium for the first time since the 2006 Doha edition with three bronze medals to show from Azeem Fahmi (men’s 100m), Shereen Samson Vallabouy (women’s 400m) and the women’s 4x100m quartet (Azreen Nabila Alias, Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, Nur Afrina Batrisyia and Shereen) in the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou, the field athletes performed below par with none recording personal best.

Women’s pole vaulter Nor Sarah Adi and high jumper Norliyana Kamaruddin failed to clear the minimum height in their respective events.

Jackie Wong threw only 62.79m, almost six metres outside his national record of 68.22m while Grace Wong who holds the national record of 62.48m, managed only 57.46m despite having undergone a month-long training in Chengdu.

Discus thrower Queenie Ting could only muster 49.00m at the Asiad, way off her national record of 52.36m.

Horizontal jumper Andre Anura Anuar, trained by coach Ahmad Firdaus Salim, also fell short while Irfan Shamsuddin managed only 58.94m for sixth placing in Asiad. His national record is 62.55m.

In their bid to expedite reforms, MAF have lured Australian Robert Ballard back as their technical director for the second time.

Ballard, who represented Australia in the 400m and 4x400m events at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, served as the MAF technical director for 22 months from February 2014.

The 58-year-old has worked with several top athletes in Southeast Asia, including former Indonesian sprinter Surya Agung Wibowo, who clocked 10.17s in the 100m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

With Ballard enjoying the trust of MAF coaching and selection committee chairman Datuk Mark Ling, he would not have to wage a lonely and futile battle in effecting changes.

But MAF are not a financially independent national sports association that have the capacity to hire and fire.

Unlike the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) or the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) who possess the financial muscle to attract top coaches, MAF will be reliant on NSC to sign the cheques.

Unless MAF start sourcing for a steady stream of income, the oldest sports body in the country must swallow their pride and work hand in glove with the relevant agencies.

The final say, as it is, does not lie with them. As of now, they have no bargaining chip to offer.

Who knows one day they would be able to attract a sponsor the way their forerunner Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) by having Resorts World as their partners under the Rakan Sukan programme.

In the interim, we are assured of a mixed bag of positive and negative news from the sports hub that is Bukit Jalil.