There has been calls to revamp the current competition structure of the M-League from several quarters. The proposal below is a personal opinion and not reflective of the organisation I work for. Currently the structure of the M-League is as follows:
Super League – 13 teams
Premier League – 13 teams
FA Cup – 30 teams
Malaysia Cup - 18
President’s Cup – 25 teams
Youth Cup – 25 teams
FAM Cup – 8 teams
The odd number poses problems to fixtures and the clubs face problems in preparing teams for the Presidents and Youth Cup due to budget constraints. On the top of that we have to accept the fact that the M-League is more state based as the clubs have problems attracting the fans despite having some quality players in their ranks. Another issue is that by having such a structure, it gives little or no time at all for the national teams to train thus severely affecting our prospects at the international level. Hence a new structure is proposed to overcome this situation and the wisdom of the football fraternity is needed to further discuss the proposal and amend the format of the M-League accordingly if the principle argument is accepted.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS
Another year and another sports award has gone by without any surprises. But while NSC deserves some measure of respect for cutting down the cost involved for the gala night, there is one area that they seem to have overlooked over the years. The awards should be presented early in the year and not in May. While we can understand that it was probably due to changes in the Minister this year, surely that would not be the case every year. Hopefully the NSC DG will look into making the changes and making it more meaningful.
Another issue with regards to the timing is the absence of the award winners at the ceremony. Surely NSC as the guardians of Malaysian sports are aware of the schedule of these athletes and should plan things in advance having looked at the international calendar. Having the awards when the hot favourites are in Jakarta and Liverpool surely does not speak well of the organisational capability of NSC.
Will we see a change next year? Only time will tell, but don't count on it please.
Another issue with regards to the timing is the absence of the award winners at the ceremony. Surely NSC as the guardians of Malaysian sports are aware of the schedule of these athletes and should plan things in advance having looked at the international calendar. Having the awards when the hot favourites are in Jakarta and Liverpool surely does not speak well of the organisational capability of NSC.
Will we see a change next year? Only time will tell, but don't count on it please.
Monday, May 05, 2008
EMAIL OF DISPLEASURE
It has come to my attention that a Vice President of OCM has sent out an email to voice his/her displeasure at the way decisions are being made at OCM. Seems that this person and a few others who are part of the decision making process at the Executive Committee has been left out of Pre Executive Committee Meetings. So he/she has now raised the question of OCM being transparent. Maybe the main stream media will get hold of this email as I have yet to see it but only heard of it.
CORE SPORTS
There has been quite a bit discussed about the closure of some Core Sports Centers and he involvement of the Ministry of Education in helping to uplift the standard of sports in the country. In order to have an insight into what Core Sports is all about, lets trace the history in the formation of the Core Sports Division.
Let's trace back to the very first time the Core Sports Program was initiated. It was in October 2004 that the NSC Board approved the Core Sports Program and it had seven sports, minus football. The proposal was then tabled by the current NSC Director General Dato Zolkples Embong at the First Cabinet Committee For Sports chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister on November 8, 2004 at Putrajaya. The idea was first initiated by the Sports Advisory Committee, chaired by Dato Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad in August and the then NSC Director General Dato Wira Mazlan Ahmad worked on fine tuning the proposal to be presented to the NSC Board and thereafter the Cabinet Committee.
The Cabinet Committee after deliberation increased the number from seven to eight by including football as it was a popular sport. Each of the sports was to have four posts which were full time salaried staff, paid for by the NSC. The four positions were General Manager, High Performance Coach, Technical Director and Development Officer.
The question that begs to be asked is just how many of these positions were filled or remain filled until today?
As for the involvement of schools, it was at that very first meeting that a decision was made to open up the facilities of schools to the public, in an organised manner for the purpose of Core Sports. Infact the Committee also approved the employment of former international/state players to be coaches at schools and be paid an allowance so that the standard of these eight sports will improve.
Was all this done? Four years later we talk about it again. And maybe, just maybe it will be done...
Let's trace back to the very first time the Core Sports Program was initiated. It was in October 2004 that the NSC Board approved the Core Sports Program and it had seven sports, minus football. The proposal was then tabled by the current NSC Director General Dato Zolkples Embong at the First Cabinet Committee For Sports chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister on November 8, 2004 at Putrajaya. The idea was first initiated by the Sports Advisory Committee, chaired by Dato Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad in August and the then NSC Director General Dato Wira Mazlan Ahmad worked on fine tuning the proposal to be presented to the NSC Board and thereafter the Cabinet Committee.
The Cabinet Committee after deliberation increased the number from seven to eight by including football as it was a popular sport. Each of the sports was to have four posts which were full time salaried staff, paid for by the NSC. The four positions were General Manager, High Performance Coach, Technical Director and Development Officer.
The question that begs to be asked is just how many of these positions were filled or remain filled until today?
As for the involvement of schools, it was at that very first meeting that a decision was made to open up the facilities of schools to the public, in an organised manner for the purpose of Core Sports. Infact the Committee also approved the employment of former international/state players to be coaches at schools and be paid an allowance so that the standard of these eight sports will improve.
Was all this done? Four years later we talk about it again. And maybe, just maybe it will be done...