FALSE SAFETY CERTIFICATES

SERIOUS concerns hang over the safety of 16 major structures built or renovated for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, including several large sporting venues. 

The suspect venues include those for badminton and squash, hockey, boxing, diving and the practice rugby stadium.

Several flyovers that are expected to carry hundreds of thousands of cars a day are also on the list, as are large stretches of elevated road leading to the 60,000-seat Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The chief technical examiner of the Central Vigilance Commission, India's highest government watchdog, found evidence two months ago that safety certificates at the 16 projects had been falsified to cover up "poor quality work".

With only five days to go until the opening ceremony, The Times has learnt that the affected sites - which had previously not been publicly identified - have still not yet been retested and signed off as safe.

"We cannot reach a definite conclusion on safety," a commission official said last night (Monday). It found that 12 concrete samples failed strength tests, that inferior concrete had been used instead of formulas approved for the Delhi climate, that anticorrosives used for steel reinforcements were substandard and that electrical systems were potentially dangerous.

The suspect work was carried out by the bodies responsible for the biggest Games projects. One of the organisations alleged to have forged safety documents is the Delhi Development Authority, which built the athletes' village. That was criticised last week as being "unfit for human habitation".

Concerns about shoddy infrastructure increased last week after a bridge leading to the main stadium collapsed, injuring 27 labourers, and part of the ceiling of the weightlifting stadium fell in. In July part of the roof at the table tennis venue had collapsed and a loose grill also injured a swimmer at the pool of the SP Mukherjee stadium.

However, Indian officials have displayed little contrition so far and yesterday the chief organiser claimed that the crisis that has engulfed the event was part of an international "conspiracy against India".

Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, denied that the condition of the athletes' village had been lacking - despite toilets being found caked in excrement and dog paw prints being found on beds. A "few pictures of dirty toilets do not mean that the Games village is not world class," he said.

His remarks came as British diplomats scrambled to ensure that the Prince of Wales would open the event on Sunday amid Indian suggestions that the honour should go to the Indian President, Pratibha Patil.

The Queen would normally declare the start of the Games as head of the Commonwealth. However, in May she decided not to travel to India and said that she was sending the Prince of Wales, a move widely interpreted as a snub in the host nation.

Yesterday British officials were fiercely guarding the job of reading the message encased in the Queen's Baton, the Commonwealth equivalent of the Olympic Torch, for the Prince. The baton has been on a tour of the Commonwealth and the reading of the message within, a job reserved for the Queen for the past 44 years, officially marks the start of the Games, they insisted.

The 'Conmen Wealth' Games

Did a country that doesn't even have as many astroturf hockey pitches as an Amsterdam suburb really need to host the Commonwealth Games?

Was it worth spending close to $4billion on 12 days of competition in an event that's as much of an anachronism as the British Empire?

And does the pathetic preparation highlighted by distasteful pictures in the international media present an accurate picture of the modern-day Indian state?

Over the past week, with falling ceilings and filthy toilets dominating the news, there has been an orgy of self-flagellation in the Indian media.

Every little failing and every little setback has been equated to national pride, and the inadequacies of a few have been projected on to a billion.

"In a way, the CWG preparations have been a model-scale version of India itself," said The Hindustan Times. "Tales of success and ambition laid out on a rockbed of medieval infrastructure and the sheer inability to create a new one."

Observers from afar have pointed the finger at India's misplaced priorities.

Simon Jenkins, who has edited both The Times and the Evening Standard, had tongue firmly in cheek when he wrote: "How dare India disgrace the Commonwealth? How dare it inflict discomfort and filth on the grandees of international sport? Surely it should have spent billions more rupees, evicted millions more peasants and hired thousands more coolies and child labourers so the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) could enjoy a couple of weeks of rah-rah next month on the banks of the great, grey-green, greasy Yamuna river?"

The eviction of peasants and as many as 350,000 street hawkers is a touchy topic. The reality of present-day India is that Commonweath Games or not, such people will eventually be driven away.

The well-heeled don't want such eyesores in their cities, and as the process of urban 'beautification' takes hold, more and more such reminders of India's poverty will be pushed into the dark margins.

But are the teething troubles facing the Commonwealth Games an indictment of a nation as a whole? Indian software companies and infrastructure firms like Larsen & Toubro do business all over the world and have a reputation for excellence and reliability. The Tatas now own the famous Jaguar marque and even Tetley tea. Don't tell them that they don't know how to do business or complete projects on time.

The Commonwealth fiasco, dubbed Conmen Wealth by some with perceptive sense of humour, has little to do with modern-day India and everything to do with a breed of politicians and bureaucrats accountable to no one.

India won the bid for the games in 2003, beating out Canada, but construction on the various venues didn't start until 2008. The Sports Authority of India, under the aegis of the sports ministry, was supposed to ensure that the main venues were completed by January so that the organising committee could then oversee the finishing touches.

That January deadline lapsed, as did one in March. When June came and went without work being finished, panic set in. The shoddy work that has been highlighted repeatedly over the past few days is merely a reminder that you can't complete in seven months something that takes years to do properly.

And it's not as though it's those annoying and fussy foreigners alone that have kicked up a fuss. "It was very disappointing that our accommodation was not up to the mark after we completed a long and tiring journey," said Akhil Kumar, one of India's boxing medal hopes after his bed collapsed under him. "The athletes are at least entitled a decent place to rest. Even the toilets are not very clean."

Presumably, Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the organising committee, will now have words with Akhil over his unreasonable expectations. After all, this was the man who said: "The rooms of the Games village are clean according to you and me, but they [foreigners] have some other standard of cleanliness."

Men like Bhanot and his boss, Suresh Kalmadi, now into a fourth term as president of the Indian Olympic Association, have ensured that Indian sport has seldom been anything more than a tawdry joke. Cricket's relative success can be attributed to it being largely free of government interference, while hockey's nosedive - the men didn't even qualify for the last Olympics - tells you of the dangers of sport being run by incompetent men with the right connections.

If the games are a success, the same men who dragged it to the brink of disaster with their corrupt ways and lack of foresight will thump their chests and speak of India's preparedness to host bigger events. Forget that most states in the union don't even have a proper athletics track. Forget too that most government-run schools don't even have patches of land big enough for a volleyball court, let alone anything bigger.

The games are little more than an exercise in vanity, for the benefit of those who don't even care about sport. For the poor kid in a village who can't even dream of spikes, it won't make the slightest bit of difference. Had they invested $3 billion on those like him, we might have seen some results in two decades time. Instead, the various stadia will endure as monuments to the folly of those who could teach Nero a thing or two about self-delusion.

Chong Wei tames Lin Dan

World number one Lee Chong Wei squeezed past old foe Lin Dan of China to win on Sunday the men's singles title at the Japan Open.

The top-seeded Malaysian, who reached the final without losing a game, needed a tough 81 minutes before scoring a 22-20, 16-21, 21-17 victory over the three-time former world champion.

In the women's, unseeded 2002 world junior champion Jiang Yanjiao, who eliminated fellow Chinese Lu Lan and Wang Shixian on her way to the final, shocked world number one Wang Xin 23-21, 21-18 to claim the title.

"This is my second victory in the Japan Open. I targeted my goal this year to win the All England and the Japan Open, so I'm very happy that I won both of them," said Lee.

"I couldn't play well in the Thomas Cup and I got an injury in Paris and failed to win the world championships. Now I'm going to aim at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in November."

Lin, winner here in 2005 and 2006, used his unstoppable smashes to even the contest at one game each, hitting a sudden attack at the net at 20-16 in the second.

But Lee kept a narrow lead in the final game, and although he was close to be tied at 11-10 and 15-14, took four points in a row to lead 19-15.

Lee took a commanding 20-17 lead when Lin hit an overhead wide, and finished off the struggling Chinese with a backhand winner.

"I changed the rhythm in the final game and increased the speed of the shuttle to lead 11-7. I didn't rush too much when I was close to be tied and tried to keep attacking at my pace," said Lee, 27.

It was Lee's seventh title of the season.

Media Chief Removed

Just as the Commonwealth Games had begun to receive some favourable notice, the ill-starred event was struck by fresh controversy with the summary removal of an official in-charge of media accreditations even as the process of issuing media passes is still on.

Strong disagreements in the Organising Committee over how the accreditation process was being handled in the light of complaints about delays in issuing passes burst into the open in a most disagreeable manner at a meeting called by the Cabinet Secretariat on Saturday.

At the meeting chaired by secretary coordination Ajit Seth on Saturday, OC's deputy director-general Manish Kumar hit out at officers who questioned him about accreditations as "liars" and suggested he was being targeted by foreign consultants due to a race bias. He accused others of angling for jobs after the Games were over.

The extraordinary exchanges were set off with an official asking Kumar why press kits had not been issued to journalists despite a specific order to this effect. The DDG is understood to have disputed the order, saying the claim was a lie. He said he was under instructions to distribute kits only later even as it was pointed out that time was running out.

Kumar's behaviour drew a sharp response from an officer who said his attitude, given how the OC was so behind schedule, was nothing short of "anti-national" and his accusations lacked all basis. Kumar is understood to have taken umbrage at this and immediately got into a war of words following which Seth called off the meeting.

Soon after, on the Cabinet Secretariat's instructions, Kumar was moved from press operations to another functional area and replaced by Manjushree Roy who is believed to have called a meeting of the media team on Sunday. Kumar is now in-charge of environment and some other nondescript area.

Kumar's transfer led to angry protests in the press ops functional area. An official told TOI: "It is very unfair. We have all decided to resign. The Press Information Bureau was making unfair demands for months. If they don't want professionals but only yes-men, we want to quit."

He added, "Manjushree Roy has been transferred five times in the past year she has been with OC. This shows how competent she is."

Kumar's exit means the accreditation process is in a mess. OC officials say they do not have lists of media personnel issued accreditions while many organisations, including at least two foreign wire services, one international newspaper, one website and an Indian English weekly have said their accreditations have not been processed. Officials said they would now be able to take over Kumar's records and computerised details and see what exactly had been happening.

Sources said that the accreditations have been handled in a secretive manner with the OC brass "holding back" 300-400 media passes.

Adversity makes strange bedfellows

Well, the title speaks for itself and what I am sharing with readers of this blog is the issue with regards of the National Sports Council owing money to National Sports Associations, which was highlighted by a main stream newspaper a couple of days ago.

And true to form the NSC Director General Dato Zolkples Embong responded to the claim in his normal manner, yes the NSC owes money, yes the claims are in but not in order, yes we have severe cash flow problems as money from the Ministry and sponsors has yet to filter down to the NSC.

But what he failed to answer was just why it is taking that long to pay the debts, and why the NSC continues on its lavish spending in all other areas. And this is where I wish to state that it is not solely the doing of Dato Zolkples that Malaysian sports, or rather the administration of NSC is now deemed to be poor. This is a result of inheriting problems, inheriting debts but above all not having people that can be fully trusted around him. That Dato Zolkples is a fact that you should accept.

Let me clarify one thing here, that Dato Zolkples and I used to be friends, but we no longer speak or glance at each other when we walk past each other. We have had our good times, period. And we have different opinions as to how certain things can be handled. Period.

Thus I gain nothing in defending him in this piece, but as a responsible person who is well aware of the webs of deceit that occur  in Malaysian sports, I feel that Dato Zolkples is being made the scapegoat in this matter.

What intrigues me and many others is the timing of the statements and the personalities who made the statement with regards to monies owed to them. The Badminton Association of Malaysia is owed more then all those three bodies that made the statements, yet opted to channel their grouses the diplomatic way.

And why has the OCM Board not brought up the issue of the RM1.2 million owed through their representatives that sit on the NSC Board? And why has none of the NSC Board members responded to the allegations made since they are presented with the statement of accounts and the expenditure incurred?

Coming back to the issue of the former Minister virtually drying up the coffers of NSC, I beg to differ as from the statement of accounts of NSC in 2004, the reserve funds were RM150 million and the annual operating expenditure of NSC was RM157 million. And for those who might not know or just are turning a deaf ear, most of the monies that funds sports comes from "sin" tax, meaning from liqour taxes, tobacco taxes and gambling taxes. But that is another story.

I will not want to defend nor agree with the actions of those who splurged the NSC monies in the past, be it by buying chalets, increasing the number of buildings within the NSC complex when we have white elephants surrounding the complex, spending money by holding camps prior to multi -sports events that create more problems for the athletes rather then help them improve (seriously isn't this something that is a waste of money since they have enough accommodation and facilities within the NSC Complex) and taking over the role of the national sports associations rather then help them.

The fact of the matter is that someone within NSC is providing ammunition to the detractors of Dato Zolpkles to gun him down. And these are the very people who want to see him exit in shame.

The irony of the whole matter is that this whole issue is the creation of Dato Zolkples himself and he had an opportunity to break free and be his own man. But rather he allowed himself to be manipulated and in the words of a senior sports official, even the former NSC DG does not have kind words to say about Dato Zolkples.

Sports in the country is being used as a tool to cause disharmony and the actions of a few have brought disrepute to NSC. I am often asked where I get information pertaining to certain issues, well the truth of the matter is that there is always someone who has ambition and is quite prepared to sacrifice his friend and work alongside his enemy for a common goal.

And as a final parting shot, why did the Minister and Deputy Minister, who are actually empowered by the law to approve expenditure of the NSC and provide a letter of authority to the NSC DG, by convention and not by any act or decree of parliament, silent about this issue?

Please Right Hon. Minister of Youth & Sports, give us a detailed account of just how much money the Ministry, be it during your time or the time of your predecessors used from the NSC coffers, how much has been be reimbursed, and just how much you have yet to channel to the NSC this year?

UPDATE

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER - NO ANSWERS HERE

(Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek has denied that the National Sports Council (MSN) owes sports associations money.

"They are not debts as claimed. Allocation applications by sports associations that are not met can't be called debts.

"As the people's trustee, we must look at the bills presented by sports associations. Claims without documents cannot be paid," he said commenting media reports that MSN owed associations millions in Bukit Jalil here Wednesday.

Shabery said MSN was not in financial trouble and had adequate allocation to fund activities organised by sports associations.

He added the global financial crisis meant less allocation for associations as the government practises wise spending.

"MSN is now more careful when approving allocation applications by sports associations," he said.

FINED, BANNED AND OUT OF ASIAD

It is one of the harshest punishments meted out for indiscipline in recent years, and one that will hit the Singapore under-23 football team hard at the upcoming Asian Games football competition.

On Tuesday night, a five-man Football Association of Singapore (FAS) disciplinary committee delivered its verdict on the 16 players involved in the Sept 7 brawl between the Young Lions and Beijing Guoan.

Beijing's Meng Yang and the Young Lions' Khairul Nizam and Fairoz Hasan - both of whom were expected to feature at the Asian Games - received the biggest punishments.

Meng, 19, was banned for a year from all football-related activities and slapped with a $3,000 fine for kicking Young Lions' Faritz Abdul Hameed's head, while Khairul and Fairoz were each given an eight-month ban from all football-related activities and fined $2,000 and $1,500, respectively.

Three of the 10 Beijing players and four of the six Young Lions were each fined between $1,000 and $3,000 and suspended between four to 12 months.

The rest were fined.

Both teams have also been fined $5,000 and docked five points from the S.League.

"This has been the most embarrassing display of players' conduct on the field that I don't think we've ever seen two teams in the S.League slogging it out (like this)," said the committee's chairman K. Bala Chandran, who held a press conference early on Wednesday morning after the marathon 10-hour hearing.

In response to a question from MediaCorp, the lawyer was scathing of Meng - a substitute in that match - for his malicious kick on Faritz.

"His act was the worst. He kicked a player, who was trying to stop the fight, in the head and it could've led to very serious injury," he said. "We looked in relation to Noh Alam Shah's case (in 2007) where the suspension was reduced from a year to seven months. In this case, we thought one year should merit."

The committee, which included deputy chairman Wee Pan Lee and committee members Eusope Othman, Alan Wee and Interkhab Khan, ruled the two sides' remaining fixtures in the S.League will continue, although the match between the two sides, which was abandoned with a minute to go with the score at 1-1, will not be replayed.

The Asian Football Confederation and FIFA could still decide to extend the bans continentally and globally.

The Young Lions and Beijing will decide whether to appeal - they have a week to do so.

Sanctions (fine and ban from all football-related activities respectively):

Young Lions:
Khairul Nizam - $2,000 fine, eight months' ban
Fairoz Hasan - $1,500 fine, eight months' ban
Gabriel Quak - $1,000 fine, four months' ban
Madhu Mohana - $1,000 fine, four months' ban
Irwan Shah - $2,000 fine
Safuwan Baharudin - $2,000 fine.

Beijing Guoan:
Meng Yang - $3,000 fine, one year ban
Su Boyang - $2,000 fine, eight months' ban
Zhang Ye - $1,500 fine, eight months' ban
Yan Hai - $3,000 fine
Yu Tianzhu - $3,000 fine
Li Tixiang - $2,500 fine
Cui Yu - $2,000 fine
Tang Miao - $2,000 fine
Zhang Zhaohui - $2,000 fine
Zhao Yang - $2,000 fine

NSC UNDER AH LONG ATTACK

Read the story that appeared in Berita Minggu today, Sunday, 19 September. Wee itl is obvious that NSC owes the money but perhaps the DG will come out with guns blazing tomorrow and claim that they are being owed or something to the effect that the paperwork is not in order, mind you owing OCM is a big deal though.

Ok here is a solution as to how to pay those who NSC allegedly owe. Just ensure only accredited officials are on the plane to New Delhi and Ghuangzhou and not those who are going to be given media accreditation as I hear for some NSC officials who are going to the Commonwealth Games. A case for SAM to look into as it's a miss use of media accreditation.

Just how much does NSC spend on these officials who go to the multi sports events on the pertext of monitoring athletes, a practice that has been abused for quite some time now. Will the NSC make public the names of those who are going and their job description and the OCM also shed light on how accreditation is being handled as in the past it was very strict.

Well here is the BH story and read it and judge for yourself...


Semalam, beberapa persatuan sukan lagi mengesahkan hampir semua hutang berkenaan adalah dalam bentuk tunggakan tuntutan membiayai program, seminar dan penghantaran atlit bertanding ke luar negara yang diluluskan MSN.
Mereka mendakwa kegagalan MSN melunaskan hutang menyebabkan banyak program dan aktiviti terjejas, hingga terpaksa ditangguhkan kerana ketiadaan dana untuk membiayainya.

Penolong Bendahari MOM, Rosmanizam Abdullah, berkata hingga setakat ini, MSN belum melangsaikan bayaran berjumlah RM1.2 juta bagi kos pembiayaan atlit ke Sukan SEA Laos, tahun lalu.

“Walaupun jumlah tunggakan hutang itu besar tetapi kami bernasib baik mempunyai tabungan untuk memastikan penghantaran atlit beraksi terutama dalam Sukan Komanwel dan Asia tidak terjejas,” katanya.

Presiden Persatuan Skuasy Malaysia (SRAM), Datuk A Sani Karim, mendakwa MSN mempunyai hutang beratus ribu dengan badan induk itu sejak 2006 tetapi hingga hari ini, ia masih belum dilangsaikan.
“Walaupun sudah beberapa kali akaun dibuka dan ditutup, ia belum dilunaskan. Kita harap mereka dapat langsaikan segera bagi membolehkan kami terus menjalankan aktiviti dan program yang sudah diatur,” katanya.

Presiden Persekutuan Gimnastik Malaysia (MGF), Datuk Dr Zakaria Ahmad pula mendedahkan MSN masih berhutang RM80,000 dengan persatuan itu, sekali gus menyebabkan mereka menangguhkan beberapa program yang sudah dirancang sejak awal.

“Kita sudah beberapa kali meminta MSN melunaskan bayaran itu tetapi MSN minta kami menggunakan duit sendiri terlebih dulu. Macam mana kami hendak gunakan duit sendiri sedangkan kami persatuan miskin yang bergantung kepada peruntukan MSN,” katanya.

FIFA STEPS IN

Ashford Mamelodi, the Fifa Development Officer in charge of East and Southern Africa, is expected in the country next week to tackle a number of issues among them, the match-fixing scandal that has hit the national football association (Zifa).

Zifa acting chief executive officer, Jonathan Mashingaidze confirmed to NewsDay yesterday that the former Cosafa secretary- general Mamelodi would be in the country from the September 21-23.

“He (Mamelodi) will visit next week to meet the new Zifa board and to look at the number of issues that are affecting the national football association,” said Mashingaidze.

“He last visited the country in March before the new board was elected into office so he is coming to meet the new board.”

Mamelodi, during his three days stay in the country, is expected to tackle the match-fixing scandal that has hit Zifa, Mashingaidze said.

“Our national team was exposed as you are aware of, and as the man responsible for the region, he wants to get first-hand information on what is happening. He wants to find out how far we have gone in trying to solve the match-fixing scandal and what the inquiry has achieved,” said Mashingaidze.

He said Mamelodi would also review the country’s Fifa goal project that started in 2003 before making courtesy calls to the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee and the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).

A three-man committee, led by Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede, is leading the investigations into how the Warriors travelled to Malaysia on December 28 last year without clearance from the SRC amid suspicion the match was organised by betting syndicates. The committee has produced a report to the SRC on the numerous Asia trips, but the supreme sports body had demanded a detailed report.

Zifa programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana, who travelled with the team to Malaysia, has been suspended while marketing officer Harry Taruva was also suspended pending a hearing

Chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya has been suspended and faces a hearing tomorrow, charged with facilitating the trip to Malaysia, among other charges.

According to the charge sheet, Rushwaya stands accused of: “ . . . Facilitating (and) or allowing the Zimbabwe national soccer team to travel to Malaysia on a trip that had not been approved by either the Zifa board or the SRC.

“That is to say on December 28 2009, a Zifa employee (Musavengana) under your direct supervision, with your tacit or implied approval, arranged a trip by the national team to Malaysia where the team played a fixed match under the auspices of a Malaysian betting syndicate.

“The team was paid to lose the match, to the previous prejudice to the reputation of Zimbabwe as a soccer playing nation and to the Fifa ranking of the national team.”

Other charges against her read: “That is to say on or about May 26 2010, you on behalf of Zifa, signed a contract with Kentaro A.G in terms of which Zifa literally gave everything away including rights as defined by Article 45 of the Zifa constitution and got nothing out of a soccer match that was eventually played between the Zimbabwe national team and the Brazilian national team at the National Sports Stadium.

“As a result of your action in binding the national association to this one-sided agreement, Kentaro A G is demanding from Zifa, payment equivalent to all the gate takings realised from the said match, money which the national association did not receive in the first place.

“It is further alleged that you also applied for a loan of $103 000 from the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC) without the authority of the board and to date you have not accounted for the same money, neither have you repaid it. The SRC has demanded this money from Zifa,” reads part of the charge sheet.

While documents on the $103 000 from the SRC were not available Thursday, it is understood that part of the money was used to assist four teams that were taking part in Caf Orange Champions League and the Confederations Cup.

Each of the four clubs is understood to have received $19 000, bringing the total to $76 000 while the remainder was used for player allowances in two matches by the Warriors for the Africa Nations Championships (Chan) against Swaziland.

EXODUS?

Word has it that several key players in the Malaysian national badminton team are set to leave BAM in the near future.

What is most shocking is that World number one Datuk Lee Chong Wei is said to be one of them and the exodus is expected to begin with Wong Mew Choo after the Asian Games this November.

BAM should not look at this development negatively as it will allow them to pool their resources and start developing new players in order to ensure Malaysia still has world class players.

One lesson can be learnt from Taufik Hidayat who is an independent player, yet he still manages to deliver as evident in the recent World Championships.

So if the likes of Chong Wei and company do part ways with BAM, it should not be looked at negatively as they still represent the country and it helps overcome the financial situation of the national body, who are beholden to the NSC.

Sometimes one wonders who actually runs badminton, or for the matters sports in the country. Time to read the NSC Act 1971, and yes in the words to Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah - you gave birth to a monster way back in the 70's by forming NSC.

BWF TO REMAIN IN MALAYSIA

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has ruled out shifting its headquarters from Malaysia despite reports they were considering a base in another country.

Rumours have persisted in the media that the sport’s world governing body was considering relocating to another Asian base or a European headquarters from its current location of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“The BWF is not going to relocate from Malaysia,” S. Selvam, media and communications manager, BWF, told Reuters in an email.

“The BWF is expanding and needs bigger premises. The BWF is looking to relocate from its current premises to a new one but still within Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.”

SUSPENDED

Funny though this has not been reported by the main stream media and I was tipped off about it on Thursday but opted to wait and see.

Apparently the team, the background story of their achievements is as published below, lifted from The Star, has been suspended. This is what the email to me said.....

First time a Malaysian team won and international invitational.
 
A few  hours ago, the team was suspended for 2 years, all the players were suspended for 2 years and the team was fined RM9,000. Why? Because FAM felt they should have been about this.
 
This was the team’s self-initiative as their season break practice. Best part most of the players are important national players.

And this is the story as carried by The Star

TWO-TIME national futsal champions Figos-Real Sports Arena FC emerged champions in the International City Cup futsal tournament in Taiwan recently.

The Malaysian club side did well to top the five-team round-robin competition organised by the Taipei Futsal Association (TPFA).

Figos-RSA FC clinched the title after holding the host team from Taiwan to a 2-2 draw in the final game at the Municipal Stadium in Taipei.


Champions: The victorious Figos-RSA FC players and officials after they won the International City Cup futsal tournament in Taiwan recently. Team manager Andrew Hean (with the Cup) is flanked by assistant manager Tang Kok Wai (left) and coach Chiew Chun Yong.
The Malaysian team making their international debut pipped the host team from Taiwan on goal difference with 10 points from three wins and a draw.

The team trained by Chiew Chun Yong, a former national women’s team coach, said it was a competitive tournament and the exposure would do them a world of good when they resume action in the FA of Malaysia (FAM)-Felda national futsal league next month.

“It is a good experience to play against the foreign teams. Although we won, it was not an easy ride for the players,” said Chiew, when they came from behind to hold the host team (2-2) at the inaugural championship, which included a club side from China and Thailand.

Figos RSA FC thrashed Yong Aun City of China 16-1 and a club team from Thailand 10-0 in the opening day of the competition before they made short work of Taiwan Foreginers Club 9-1 and holding host Taiwan 2-2.

Team manager Tang Kok Wai said after having won back-to-back national titles in 2008 and last year, the club now hoped to make waves at international-level competitions.

‘’It is time for futsal to move forward and be on par with the giants of Asia,” said Tang.

He said they were keen to represent Malaysia in the AFC Cup (futsal) competition and the playing exposure in international competitions would certainly put them in the right frame of mind ahead of the regional championships next year.

The Figos RSA FC squad comprise past and present internationals — Jamhuri Zainuddin, Muhd Fadhil Yusof, S. Devandran, Jasman Patmee Mohd Meera, Mohd Khairul Effendy Mohd Bahrin and Muizzudin Mohd Harris.

The rest of the players include Ahmad Hanif Sarmin, Mohd Izuwan Hayat, Qaiser Heshaam Abdul Kadir, Muhd Shafiq Hamzah, Muhd Awaluddin Hasan, Zulfadli Mohd Ali, Mohd Fadzil Karnim and Ahmad Rizal Rahim.