Monday, September 24, 2012

Malaysian umpiring scene Red Carded...

 UMPIRE LINGAM (right)

THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) suffered a new  chaotic low, when Tournament Director V. Rajamanickam  agreed that umpiring is at its lowest standard and he was  forced to replace one on Sunday when Maybank stood their  ground.
  And Umpires Committee chairman Lt Kol. B. Muthukumar  made matters more confusing by saying that he can’t  comment when asked if he is standing by his beleaguered  umpires.
   Teams are said to be so peeved with the standard of  umpiring in the MHL, that Maybank refused to enter the pitch  against Sapura on Sunday because umpire K. Lingam was  blowing.
   It was a chaotic five minutes, as Maybank refused to enter  the pitch, and Rajamanickam bowed to the pressure and  replaced Lingam with reserve umpire Ahmad Fitri Lias to get  the match underway.
   “Maybank officials told me then that they had written to the  MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation) saying they do not  want Lingam to umpire their match against Sapura because  he is not up to standard and also that it would be his fourth  time umpiring a Maybank match this season.
   “I then agreed to heir request and the reserve umpire blew  their match, but later found out that Maybank had not  written in officially about the matter to MHC,” said Rajamanickam.
    Umpires guardian Muthukumar, when asked if a prece dent has been set where teams can now dictate terms on  umpires, said he does not have the mandate to speak to the  Press.
   “As far as I am concerned, I do not have the mandate to  speak to the press and you can ask the MHC secretary or  tournament director to comment,” said Muthukumar.
   When pressed if teams are now free to pick their umpires,  and dictate who they want for their matches, Muthukumar  again refused to comment officially.
   However, Rajamanickam shed some light on the current  state of umpiring in Malaysia: “There are 20 umpires for the  MHL and only five are International while 15 are Class 1 and  lower. So, there are not enough quality umpires to go around  blowing in the Premier Division and that is why the same  umpires are used.
   “The other 15 are still learning and are doing a good job in  the Division One matches,” said Rajamanickam.
   When asked how to solve the problem?
   “I personally believe we need to bring in foreign umpires  for the next MHL if we do not want more chaos,” said  Rajamanickam.
   Nur Insafi are the other team which has written in to the  Technical Committee stating that the standard of umpiring is  very low.
   The MHL has already been invaded by foreign players  because Malaysia does not have a big pool of quality players,  and it could now see foreign umpires in the future.