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Malaysian Athletics Federation chief: Athletes should abide by letter of undertaking
Malaysian Athletics Federation’s new president SM Muthu addresses reporters during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur June 30,2019. — Picture via Twitter
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — The Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) have warned athletes under the auspices of the parent body to abide by the Letter of Undertaking they had signed earlier.
MAF president Datuk SM Muthu stressed that any dissatisfaction and problems arising with the country’s athletics governing body should be discussed and not be raised through inappropriate, non-valid channels like social media.
For example, MAF took note of the problems involving national high jump champion Nauraj Singh Randhawa who expressed disappointment, claiming to have missed the opportunity to compete in the world meet.
“Nauraj shared the matter on social media but it needs to be clarified here that this problem actually occurred due to the rules and decisions set by World Athletics, so MAF could not submit his name (in time to meet the deadline) due to several conditions that had to be met,” he told reporters at Wisma OCM here today.
Nauraj had previously voiced his disappointment through his Instagram account, after being denied the chance to compete in the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, from March 18-20.
Elaborating, Muthu said MAF had on January 20 registered Nauraj’s name under the “Ineligible Athlete” category for the purpose of WA’s approval to participate in the world meet.
But on January 21, WA rejected MAF’s application on the grounds that the high jump event was not allocated for the “Ineligible Athlete” category.
However on March 9, WA again sent an email offering Nauraj a place in the competition and requiring a response on his participation within 24 hours.
Muthu said technical matters involving visa matters, competition attire, financial applications as well as the Covid-19 protocol that needed to be resolved in a short time could not be met while the need for an immediate response to the WA was required.
He said the MAF general manager had actually informed the 30-year-old athlete regarding the matter but Nauraj still vented his frustration on social media.
Asked what action could be taken against Nauraj, Muthu said they would hold a discussion first.
“MAF will ask Nauraj to provide a show-cause letter following his actions and all decisions will be made later,” he said. — Bernama