PUTRAJAYA, Nov 25 — Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal defended the number one post today in the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) for the 2023-2027 term.
In the election held in conjunction with MHC’s annual general meeting, he defended the president post uncontested for the third consecutive term.
Subahan first took the post in 2015 after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah (then Tengku Mahkota of Pahang) relinquished the post following his commitment as Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president, as well as a member of the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) exco for the Asian continent.
Two vice-presidents — Datuk Ahmad Najmi Abdul Razak (men) and Datin Mary Sadiah Zainuddin (women) — ‘were promoted as deputy president after winning unopposed when two incumbents, Jagadish Chandra Bipin Chandra did not contest while Prof Datuk S. Shamala gave up the post in January.
Only the five posts of vice-president (men) saw a six-cornered fight, which was won by S. Ganesan and Shurizan Mansor (26 votes each), Datuk Mohd Saiyuti Abd Samat (25), Hasnizam Hassan (23), and Datuk Seri Anil Jeet Singh (15).
M. Gobinathan missed out on the post after getting only six votes, while the two seats for women went to Rogayah Mohamad and Zaililah Md Tahir, who won unopposed.
Speaking at a press conference after the election, Subahan said the biggest challenge for him since leading MHC in 2015 was expecting consistent performance from the national team, even though his side had provided everything for them.
“Players need to understand that it is not only our job (management) but also their responsibility to be hungry when playing in major tournaments. There are no salary problems, we pay coaches and players well.
“I dare say some of our coaches are paid as high as football coaches, very highly paid, and even players are paid well by us and the clubs in the league.
“We give playing tours to Europe and any part of the continent, sports science and psychologist services, while the coaches also give their best. But the players failed to perform when it matters the most, this is where it is quite challenging for me.
“We are there among the best, on a good day, and we can take on any team. In the 2023 World Cup, we nearly knocked out Spain before losing 4 – 3 on a penalty shootout (in the challenge for quarter-finals), but on a bad day, we lost to some of the weaker teams. Consistency is something we need to sort out,” he said.
The important mission in the near future is to successfully organise the Men’s Junior World Cup at the Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium from December 5 to December 16, as well as the qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Muscat, Oman and Valencia, Spain, respectively, for the national men’s and women’s squads on January.
Subahan said they are also in discussions with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to organise more international tournaments in Malaysia, besides trying to raise standards and awareness of hockey in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, MHC, in a statement, announced that Subahan has appointed several committee chairmen involved in organising the Junior World Cup at the first meeting of the Executive Board 2023-2027 after the election to ensure the championship proceeded smoothly.
The committee chairmen were appointed as follows:
National Team Management Committee: Datuk Ahmad Najmi Abdul Razak
Competition Committee: Datuk Seri Anil Jeet Singh
Umpires Committee: Ranjit Singh Gurdial Singh
Legal Committee: Jadadish Chandra Bipin Chandra
MHC Treasurer: S. Selvendran
— Bernama
