Selangor star banned for life

Selangor defender Ramez Dayoub is one of two players suspended for life by the Lebanese FA for alleged match-fixing, pending appeal.

Ramez and Mahmoud Ali have also been slapped with a US$15,000 fine.

The announcement was made today in a Press conference by Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry who is also secretary general of the West Asia Football Federation, Fadi Zureikat at the headquarters of the Lebanese Association of Football.

Having spent 174 hours interviewing 65 witnesses, 44 players, three referees and 18 officials, the FA also suspended two players for three seasons and 20 more for a season.

The announcement came just days after the Interpol conference on match-fixing in Kuala Lumpur.

For details, click here.

Jenguk arena.my

Sesetengah daripada warga kerja Astro Arena dituntut menghasilkan nukilan menerusi kolum masing-masing di laman web Astro Arena di www.arena.my.

Ada yang serius, ada yang menceritakan kisah di sebalik tabir dan ada yang berkongsi pengalaman. Jenguk-jenguklah arena.my dan anda akan dapat membaca artikel Beatrice Krishnan Barcelona, Nurjannah Ali kontroversi di Pantai Timur, Akbar Sahari bukan senang nak jadi pengulas dan tentu sekali Artikel 88 dan 89.

Shaukei Kahar, Zainal Abidin Rawop, Nor Bazly Azmi, Edleen Ismail, Suzana Basri, Dayang Zainatull Aqma Abang Zulkarnain (anak bekas setiausaha eksekutif Persatuan Bola Sepak Sarawak) dan Burn antara yang berkongsi pandangan dua kali seminggu!

Player under investigation!

As the who's who in Asian football congregate in Kuala Lumpur for the INTERPOL conference which is aimed at addressing threats posed by match-fixing, one foreign player plying his trade in Malaysia has come under scrutiny. He is said to have come under investigation at his homeland.

Representatives from law enforcement agencies, AFC Member Associations and the betting industry are meeting in Kuala Lumpur for INTERPOL’s international two-day conference ‘Match fixing: The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game’ to identify the tactics used by organised crime networks behind this global threat and an announcement is set to be made tomorrow!

Below is the AFC press release.

Some 200 participants are attending the two-day conference (20 and 21 February) organised by INTERPOL’s Integrity in Sport unit, as part of the joint INTERPOL/FIFA Training, Education and Prevention initiative, and in partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong told delegates: “We need to admit that match-fixing is a real danger to football’s ethical values and needs to be eliminated to preserve the sanctity of the sport. “Your participation in this conference proves that we are ready to work hand-in-hand to eradicate this cancer from the game. Match-fixing is too complex and widespread for one organization to fight it alone. To fight this, we need a joint and coordinated effort,” added Jilong.

AFC General Secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay asked the Member Associations to commit themselves in the fight against match-fixing. “We look forward to embracing our 47 Member Associations in a very special way by eradicating all negative elements which has plagued our beautiful game in recent years,” he said. 

“AFC will pledge to continue working along with Interpol to deliver a series of training, education and prevention workshops in 2013 and 2014 at both regional and national levels. “I would also like to highlight to all our Member Associations of their statutory obligation as it is your responsibility to fight match-fixing and corruption. We need your cooperation and commitment to implement what you learn here in the next two days.”

INTERPOL’s Director of Capacity Building and Training, Dale Sheehan said it was essential that all those involved in combating this crime join resources and ‘take back the game of football’.

“Criminals can make millions in illicit profits from match-fixing with little risk of being detected and will exploit every opportunity. By bringing together partners we are raising awareness and understanding of the problem,” said Sheehan.

“Sports and fair play are the very fabric of our society and youth and the impact of match-fixing, including murder, suicide, assault and threats has the ability to undermine that very fabric,” he concluded.

FIFA’s Head of the Security, Ralf Mutschke said the vast number of games played and the massive increase in online betting make the sport an easy target for organised crime. 

Where money flows, corruption often follows. We need and must target our action at a global level. FIFA cannot fight and win this battle against corruption in football alone; involving all parties that need to work together is the key to the battle against corruption in football,” said Mr Mutschke.

High on the conference agenda are current and anticipated future trends in match-fixing and irregular/illegal betting and the adverse influence of the Asian betting markets and organised crime on football.

Identifying current good practice, ways of enhancing good governance and the importance of protecting players and initiatives in training, education, prevention and investigation are also key issues to be discussed.

Letter - a tip of the iceberg?

Datuk Sieh Kok Chi - engineer by profession at Department of Irrigation and Drainage, represented the country in water polo and secretary of Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) since 1992, only the fourth Malaysian to hold the position after N.M. Vasagam, K. Aryaduray and Thong Poh Nyen since OCM's forerunner FMOC was established in 1953 

Tan Sri Mohamad Noor Rahim - former Secretary General of Ministry of Home Affairs and Secretary General of Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, State Secretary of Penang, State Financial Officer of Perak, Director General of City Hall Kuala Lumpur, and Under-Secretary for both Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Defence. Now vice-president of Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and deputy president of Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC).

The story is not about Mohd Noor v Kok Chi but allegations contained in the former's letter widely circulated to OCM's affiliates.

Among them:

1. Kok Chi's refusal to apologise for statements made and published in the Star Nov 25, 2012 which Mohd Noor claimed to have put OCM Board members in bad light.

2. RM28,000 spent on Swatch watches, unbeknownst to OCM Board members.

3. The purchase of Olympic Games tickets worth RM350,000

A tip of the iceberg?

Jangan biar ejen catur kerjaya

Bola sepak adalah satu industri besar. Sebab itu ramai yang mahu mengaut keuntungan.

Sekadar buat renungan. Beza gambar-gambar di bawah.

Mario Balotelli secara rasmi menyertai AC Milan, bergambar dengan CEO Milan, Adriano Galliani

Florentino Perez (kiri) menyaksikan legenda Real Madrid, Alfredo di Stefano menyerahkan jersi nombor 5 kepada Zinedine Zidane pada 2001

Nazmi Faiz Mansor diapit Marco Guimaraes

Nazmi sentiasa ditemani Marco Guimaraes

Di sebalik kontroversi kepulangan Nazmi Faiz Mansor dari Beira-Mar di Portugal, aku berasa pelik kenapa ejennya Marco Guimaraes yang berpangkalan di Singapura suka benar menonjolkan dirinya. Tengok semula gambar-gambar di atas. Anda tahu ejen Balotelli? Siapa pula ejen Zidane?

Kita harus tahu perbezaan ejen dan pengurus.

Ejen bertindak selaku orang tengah dalam hal rundingan kontrak, perpindahan dan hal berkaitan kebajikan pemain dengan kelab. Pengurus peribadi mengurus aktiviti selain daripada bola sepak dan mengatur jadual pemain.

Seorang ejen boleh menjadi pengurus peribadi tetapi pengurus tidak boleh menjadi ejen melainkan dia memiliki lesen bertauliah FIFA selepas memenuhi beberapa syarat, termasuk lulus peperiksaan (20 soalan), ada jaminan kewangan dalam bank Switzerland berjumlah 100,000 francs dan perlindungan insurans.

Di Malaysia, ada lima ejen yang berdaftar di bawah Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM). Mereka ialah Miroslav Bozik, Effendi Jagan Abdullah, Issa Diabate, Roland Klein dan Edwin Varo. Ejen Muhammad Ghadar pula ialah Mohamad Mroweh, yang berdaftar di bawah nama Lebanon.

Di Singapura, ada lapan ejen berdaftar termasuk Guimaraes dari Football Management International. Di Thailand ada tujuh, Indonesia (lapan), Kemboja (dua), manakala Vietnam dan Filipina masing-masing ada seorang ejen bertauliah - sekadar membuat perbandingan.

Ejen pula terbahagi kepada dua - ejen perlawanan dan ejen pemain. Ramai yang ada kedua-dua lesen, jadi mereka boleh membawa pasukan menyertai satu-satu kejohanan jemputan dan pada masa yang sama mewakili pemain individu.

Latihan pusat di luar negara misalnya boleh diatur ejen perlawanan seperti yang berlaku apabila Harimau Muda ke Slovakia atau Harimau Malaya berkelana ke Turki. Ejennya ialah Bozik, bekas pemain tengah Negeri Sembilan yang juga satu-satunya ejen pemain dan perlawanan di Malaysia.

Zidane dulu diwakili ejennya Alain Migliaccio yang ada sekelompok nama besar di bawah naungannya, termasuk Franck Ribery, Samir Nasri, Jeremy Menez dan satu ketika dulu mengurus Eric Cantona.

Namun Migliaccio bercakap dan menonjolkan diri apabila perlu. Misalnya selepas Zidane menanduk dada Marco Materazzi pada final Piala Dunia 2006, atau bermain psikologi dengan Arsenal ketika Nasri mahu berhijrah ke Manchester City.

Contoh terbaik seorang pengurus di Malaysia ialah Zakaria Ab Rahim yang mengurus kerjaya Safee Sali.

Keluarga Nazmi harus berwaspada dan bijak mengurus kerjaya dan masa depan Nazmi. Biarkan ejen bertindak di sebalik tabir. Ejen tidak digalakkan membuat kenyataan akhbar atau bercakap bagi pihak pemain dalam sidang akhbar.

Nazmi dan keluarganya tidak boleh membiarkan ejen mencatur gerak, kelak papan catur kerjaya Nazmi musnah terlalu awal.

Nota: Ejen untuk orang, agen untuk sains.

Thank you Chan Wai Kong

I wish to say thank you to my former colleague at the Malay Mail, Chan Wai Kong, for giving me a special mention in his column in the New Straits Times on Monday.

Read Flawed hero who gave hope to many. Media Prima chairman Datuk Johan Jaafar tweeted about it.

Good piece on the disgraced cyclist, Lance Amstrong by Chan Wai Kong, "Flawed hero who gave hope to many," in NST, p14 today.
— Johan Jaaffar (@Johan_Jaaffar) January 29, 2013

Farewell Eddy

It was a great pity that my meetings with Datuk Eddy Choong were few and far between. Otherwise I would have penned a personal perspective when asked by a friend to pen an article on the legend for a souvenir programme not long ago. But based on the conversations I had then, one could only conclude that Eddy was a source of inspiration for many who went on to shape Malaysian badminton.

The Father of Malaysian badminton passed away on Monday, with the New Straits Times giving him a proper tribute.

And it is fitting for the academy soon to be established is named after Eddy, who could have opted to play football, rugby or be active in track and field. Read the pouring tributes Eddy Choong dies,
Academy to be named after Eddy, great inventor of shots, the Bernama report, obituary by BWF and OCM's Hall of Fame

Allow me to share my article in the souvenir programme:

EDDY CHOONG – CUTTING OPPONENTS TO SIZE

He stood five feet four inches. But Eddy Choong stood like a giant during his heydays, a gigantic figure in the world of badminton.

Throughout the 1950s, opponents and journalists around the globe were fond of attaching nicknames to Eddy.

Mighty Atom, Mighty Midget and Jumping Jack were liberally used to describe the pocket dynamite who was a bundle of acrobatics on the court.

Before Liem Swie King and Hariyanto Arbi made jumping smash fashionable, Eddy was the personification of agility.

He could hurl himself into the air before sending a sharp smash beyond the outstretched arms of the opponent.

Born Eddy Choong Ewe Beng on May 29, 1930, he was the third son of Datuk Choong Eng Hye and Lily Ho, who have both since passed away.

He was the fourth chld in the family and had three brothers and two sisters. His brothers Louis, David and Freddy were no slouch in sports.

Louis who has since passed away, was a one-handicap golfer who had represented Malaya in the Eisenhower Cup.

David, one year older, won three successive All England doubles titles from 1951-53.

Younger brother Freddy represented the country in shooting. Eng Hye the patriarch was a keen footballer and Penang Free School headboy who was a team mate to Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Alhaj.

Eddy’s sporting inclinations, so to speak, were in the genes.

However Eddy was not encouraged to take up sports. His father wanted Eddy to help him run the vast family business.

“When I was seven, my father used to take me out and show me the footballers riding bicycles and selling kacang putih (peanuts/tidbits). 

“He wanted to discourage me from taking up sports by showing me there was no future in it. Fortunately I was a rebel. And my parents eventually gave in to my compulsion,” Eddy recalled in the book Way of the Champions, Secrets of their Success.

Eddy went on to win seven All England titles - four singles titles – in 1953, 1954, 1956 and 1957 – three men’s doubles titles, combining with David in 1951, 1952 and 1953. He bagged a total of 75 international titles in 14 countries 

However it was through circumstance and fate that made Eddy ditched his first love, football, for badminton.

A renowned half-back or midfielder at Penang Free School, Eddy was equally at home as a sprinter, a hockey player or a rugger player.

Yet the tactical, technical and mental aspects of badminton appealed to Eddy. And the type of game pint-sized Eddy chose was derived after much thought.

“I was fast and had strong legs. I had to play this type of game in order to give myself time to get back to central position. I could not play a fast, ping-pong type of game because all my opponents were taller and had better reach,” he added.

To improve his game, Eddy studied not only other racket sports but also athletics, golf, bowling and the martial arts.

From runners, Eddy learnt about the physical limitations of the human body. Gradually he changed his game – from the all-action jumping smash type of game to a more controlled pace, wearing his opponent out with precise strokes. Eddy gave a lot of thought to the game.

He wrote two books, including “The Phoenix Book of Badminton” which he co-authored with English journalist, Fred Brundle.

The 132-page hard cover book was published in 1956 and featured a history of the game, equipment, the origins of the All-England and the Thomas Cup and taught readers the basic skills of the game and simple tactics.