MALAYSIAN Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, in saying "nobody is indispensable", accepted Ismail Abu's decision to resign from the national team yesterday.Tengku Abdullah chaired the MHF management committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur and they accepted Ismail's resignation and imposed a fine on Azlan Misron and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.
However, MHF did not announce the amount of the fine.
Azlan Misron (left) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin had broken curfew while in centralised training (Azlan, left, and Tengku Ahmad)
for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Azlan Misron (left) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin had broken curfew while in centralised training for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Azlan and Tengku Ahmad had broken curfew while in centralised training for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Ismail Abu, 25 and with 120 caps, came under the spotlight when he skipped weights training on Monday with the excuse of wanting to repair his car, but was seen instead at a gaming arcade.
Ismail then preempted the management's decision by sending in his quit letter to team manager George Koshy.
"We have to educate our youth, and since nobody is indispensable, we accept Ismail's withdrawal letter and place our faith on others to take his place for the (World Cup) Qualifier," said Tengku Abdullah.
Tengku Abdullah said Ismail stated in his letter that he withdrew because of personal matters, and MHF will not dwell on the matter further.
Malaysia will play in the New Zealand World Cup Qualifier on Nov 7-15, with only the winners going to the New Delhi World Cup.
The others in the group are Wales, China, Scotland and Austria.
The committee were briefed by national coach Tai Beng Hai and Koshy before reaching their decision.
“Actually, we were only briefed on the decision that was taken by the team management and we endorsed it as we felt that if the issue is allowed to drag on, it will only spoil the team's final preparation," said Tengku Abdullah.
“Every player must be able to fit into the team, and must have the desire to play for the country. It will be a waste of good talent but at the same time, we must have faith in the others who are in training."
The final 18 will be named after the Australian Test matches and the team will leave for New Zealand on Oct 31.
