Azeem makes a good call but elsewhere, we are still running short

FOR a speedster, sprinter Mohd Azeem Fahmi is a man who can unmovingly stand his ground.

His bold decision to skip the SEA Games in Cambodia – despite the pressure from the athletics association – is something to be lauded.

The national body wanted the country’s 100m record holder to compete so Malaysia would be assured of a gold medal at the regional Games.

Azeem, however, said no way.

The youngster, who is now based at the Auburn University, wants to focus on the NCAAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) races.

And that’s a good thing. He should not be caught in an age-old trap of Malaysian sports.

Top athletes get “cornered” to compete in regional Games – or risk being labelled as lacking patriotism – at the expense of their own growth.

Thankfully, the 18-year-old Azeem’s decision has not created a big fuss.

I guess more people have accepted that Azeem would do better to remain in the US and improve on his speed and power instead of flying halfway across the world and back, just to compete in a far lesser race.

What a waste of taxpayers’ money that would be.

After all, we have able replacements. There are top runners like Mohd Haiqal Hanafi, Zulfiqar Ismail, Jonathan Nyepa and Khairul Hafiz Jantan to challenge for honours in the 100m.

Young athletes need to emulate Azeem and make good decision for themselves.

Azeem gets an A plus for decision-making, but the same cannot be said for some, especially the referees in the Super League which kicked off last week.

The league started off in style with perennial champions Johor Darul Ta’zim winning the Charity Shield but days later, the standard of refereeing came under question.

Kuala Lumpur coach Bojan Hodak vented his frustration after a 2-2 draw against Penang and questioned the calls by the man in black. He even asked that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) address the issue.

Will FAM act? And how do we improve the quality of refereeing?

Will the introduction of video-assisted referees help? Or do our coaches and players need training on respecting refereeing decisions?

Then, there was cycling head coach John Beasley.

The Australian had been promised an allocation for research to give his cyclists like Azizulhasni Awang and Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom a scientific edge ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Unfortunately, there has been a change in government and the funds are stuck.

Beasley will not have a headstart he had wanted – all because of bureaucracy and because governments do not believe in a continuing policy.

Beasley is now patiently waiting for approval, but I am losing patience.

Incompetency in sports cannot be tolerated.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), meanwhile, have announced that seven former shuttlers – Datuk Lee Chong Wei, Tan Boon Heong, Koo Kien Keat, Datuk Jalani Sidek, Mohd Roslin Hashim, Ong Ewe Hock and Datuk Cheah Soon Kit – have been included in their technical advisory panel (TAP).

It sounds good but weren’t these players vocal enough in giving their views even before joining TAP?

They are inspirational figures and will always be mentors for many even if they are not in the committee.

It would have made a huge difference if these past greats had been made full-time state badminton chief coaches or technical directors or managers, with a good paycheque to boot.

The states are where our focus should be. We need to strengthen the pool of players and quality of coaches there to ensure the elite team has a good supply of talent.

If the budding talents in our states are good, we could always turn to them to bring us medals at the SEA Games.

No need to desperately bring back stars from faraway lands.