Coaches stuck in limbo

Good times: Former SEA Games champions Haiqal Hanafi (right) and Khairul Hafiz Jantan trained under coach Mohd Poad Kassim in the past.

PETALING JAYA: With the SEA Games just months away, Malaysia’s athletics team are running a race without coaches.

Despite announcements and appointments, the status of several national coaches remains unclear as the clock continues to tick down towards the SEA Games in Thailand from Dec 8-21.

Three months after Mohd Poad Kassim was named as the coach expected to return and lead the national sprint squad, he has yet to report for duty.

It is not just Poad. Six other coaches announced last month by the Malaysia Athletics (MA) leadership – Andrew Lulham, Jorge Luis Alfaro Quinones, Yunaika Crawford Rojer, Mohd Hakimi Ismail, Mohd Robani Hassan and Lo Choon Sieng — have also not officially begun their roles.

So far, only Manshahar Abd Jalil has officially taken charge as head coach since being appointed in June. He took over after Australian Robert Ballard’s contract as the technical director was not extended.

Even Robani, who won gold in the men’s 110m hurdles at the 2005 SEA Games in Manila, is in the dark about the situation.

“I can’t provide any details on my current status. I’ll leave the decision to MA and the National Sports Council,” said Robani when contacted.

The confusion is even more puzzling considering that former MA president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had already named Robani and the others as part of the new coaching line-up during an earlier press conference.

Poad, who coached Khairul Hafiz Jantan to SEA Games gold in the men’s 100m in Kuala Lumpur 2017 and Haiqal Hanafi to the title in Manila 2019, was proposed for a return following tension within the sprint squad that led several athletes to boycott training sessions.

Poad is currently serving at the Kedah Sports School, specifically at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tunku Anum Tunku Abdul Rahman, where he has been based since November last year after his contract with MA was not renewed.

With less than five months remaining before the SEA Games in Thailand, preparations for the national athletics team remain a concern.

MA have yet to set any medal targets for the biennial Games, although the team managed to deliver five golds, three silvers and 11 bronzes at the previous edition in Phnom Penh in 2023.