05/10/1997
SEA Games athletics manager P. Rengan who had opened his mouth on
Thursday, calling for the sacking of two coaches and two walkers, found
that he had put his foot into it.
Yesterday, National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Mazlan
Ahmad warned all aspiring Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games team
managers that the job entails more than just warming their seats.
"This is a sore point of Malaysian sport. Most managers are never around
when the coaches train athletes," said Mazlan at the National Sea Games
training camp in Bangi yesterday.
"But when a major event is around the corner, they simply jump on the
bandwagon."
Mazlan has reasons to be sore for the NSC have been given the
responsibility of preparing the athletes for the Commonwealth Games and he
wants to make sure that their training programme is not affected by
unnecessary problems.
"This must stop, and I intend to put a stop to it."
Fifteen sports, including athletics, will feature in the Commonwealth
Games scheduled for Sept 11-21 next year and the NSC will be conducting
interviews next month to appoint managers for these sports.
It will be a full time job for at least nine months before the Games,
and the NSC will be arranging for leave for the successful candidates.
Mazlan said he does not want managers who are in the dark about their
athletes and neither does he want the man to interfere with the coach's
job.
"The manager should also be able to work with the coach. A manager's
work is to manage, that is all," said Mazlan.
"They must not get involved with the daily training. Let the coach
decide on this, and if the coach decides that the athlete need not attend
centralised training for a valid reason, I am all for it."
Rengan had also sent a letter to the Malaysia Amateur Athletics Union
(MAAU) asking them to drop the coaches and walkers from the Sea Games
squad.
The coaches are V. Subramaniam (walks) and Mazlan Abdul Malik (sprints)
and the walkers are K. Mahadevan and Annastasia Karen Raj.
Subramaniam and his walkers have been training at the Merdeka Stadium in
Kuala Lumpur and have got MAAU's permission to stay away from the Bangi
camp which is 33 kilometres away.
Mazlan, an army officer, got permission to stay away because he is
sitting for some promotional exams in Kuala Lumpur.
"I don't see a problem here. The manager is the one who should be taken
to task because he does not know where they are training or what is their
progress," said Mazlan.
"I have no problems with theathletes who want to train on their own but
the coach must know what they are doing."
The national athletes, including Mahadevan, checked into the Universiti
Tenaga Nasional training centre in Bangi for final preparations yesterday.
Annastasia, Subramaniam and Mazlan have said they will check in as soon
as possible.
(END)
