Olympics - my personal recollection Part 1

Covering the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 certainly remains the highlight of my journalistic career. Not everybody gets to cover the most prestigious, ultimate and biggest sporting extravaganza in the planet.

I was pleasantly surprised when the then Malay Mail sports editor, Rajan Etickan, handed me the letter from the Olympic Council of Malaysia of the quota given to Mailsport, circa 2003.

"You've been nominated to go to Athens."

Rajan picked me ahead of Tony Mariadass and Mustapha Kamaruddin, two of my seniors at the desk. His reasoning was simple - Tony had gone to the previous edition in Sydney, while Mus was not keen on covering a multi-sports event. I, on the other hand, had the Manchester Commonwealth Games 2002 and four SEA Games under my belt.

"The best man to go is the man who covers athletics," added Rajan.

Athens...the birthplace of the modern Games. The Olympic Games returning to its roots. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That was my good fortune. My rezeki.

That was a year before the Athens Games in August 2004. Preparation had to be done a year ahead. Application of accreditation tags and accommodation must be confirmed well in advance.

The rest of the crew were big names of the New Straits Times group, Lazarus Rokk (New Straits Times sports editor), Badrulhisham Othman (Berita Harian sports editor), Azahar Mohd Taib (Harian Metro senior writer) and Tham Foo Kan (senior photographer). Khalid Redza who had been to several Olympics, went to Athens on his own.

So as the youngest of the beefy lot, I was tasked to do the honours of searching for the right accommodation. Our thanks to Ibrahim of the editorial management office who dealt with the agent via e-mails that I forwarded to him.


This picture was taken at the apartment we rented throughout the Games. It belonged to the Morous. Front row (from left) Khalid Redza, adidas model, Tham Foo Kan. (Back) from left to right, Azahar, Badrul or Buddy and cigar-smoking Rokk who must have been thinking he was the best looking dude of the crew. The Jalur Gemilang was left behind as a token of appreciation to the Morous. The headgears, hmm...are they real Greek headgears?


Thanks to TV presenter Zainal Abidin Rawop who wanted to interview Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt, I was given the chance to get up, close and personal with the two. Bolt was a raw 17-year old then!


The routine after each sweat-inducing day was to makan-makan lah...at the Indian Village owned by a Pakistani. From left my better known namesake Rizal Abdullah of the Star, Jamaican fan, Buddy, Azahar, Hamdan Saaid of Bernama (now he's with Berita Harian) and D. Raj of the Star.


Rumours of the Malay Mail were about to be sold were already the talking point in the corridors of NST at that time, so I knew I could be the last MM representative to cover the Olympics. So against this backdrop, I jumped at the opportunity of "going to Beijing". To Darren, Dunstan and Deeno, the chieftain and amigos from adidas, I'm dropping a BIG hint here!


My fellow Johannian and I...this picture reminds me of a funny incident. I penned the following thoughts on my column which appeared in the Malay Mail every alternate day.

I GOT my bearings wrong the other day. Eager to provide a little coverage for the first Malaysian to break intoa sweat in this ongoing Olympiad, I hailed a cab near the Main Press Centre (MPC) in Kiffisias Avenue.

Destination? The Panathinaiko Stadium which staged the first modern Olympic Games 108 years ago. The target?

Futsal-playing archer of Thai descent, Mon Redee Sut Txi. The driver dropped me off at the main entrance of the storied stadium,where Acropolis was well within view and within reach, by foot of course.

The stadium was a natural bowl, consisting of two parallel rectangular hillsides facing each other. What caught my eye was the massive tiers of white marble blocks. This is awesome, I thought. Its vertical staircases and horizontal walkways divide the stadium into many sections and numerous tiers. The flat marble serve as seats, rising at a 45-degree angle.

But as soon as I entered the stadium after the security check-point,there was no sign of any archer in the vicinity. All I could see was a few technical crew. Then I noticed a familiar figure. I could spot his shining pate under the blazing Athens sun miles away.

The New Straits Times sports editor Lazarus Rokk must have lost his sense of direction as well. It dawned upon us that we were at the wrong venue. He had left the apartment much earlier, burdened with the fact 9am in Athens means 2pm inKL. The consolation though, was stepping onto the marbled Kallimarmaro,the stadium's nickname, which means beautiful marble.

As we made our way out of the stadium, using a cave-like tunnel which leads from the outside, high on the hill behind the stadium, it felt as if we were taking a journey into the past. We were, I believe, taking the same route that served as the entry for those Panathenian athletes.

We were treading on a well-trodden path, walking with the spirits of ancient athletes. A thumping sound brought us back to the present. A lady volunteer had dropped a large piece of canvas. She was making her way up the tunnel to the staircase.

Being the gentlemen that we are, having shared the same alma mater, Rokk and I offered to help. Like a Hellenic athlete desperate to demonstrate his athletic ability, we carried it all the way upstairs, with gusto and without complain.

In return for that touch of bravery and back-breaking attempt at carrying something that weighed almost 10kg, we got an Efharisto (thank you in Greek), I guess much to Rokk's disappointment. Gasping for breath, we were told by other volunteers the ranking competition which determined the seedings for Mon Redee was at Dekelia AirForce Base, almost one hour from where we were standing.

Oh well, she can wait for we had just been to our own version of the Olympics!!!

Olympics Part 2 - Opening spectacle

WHAT a spellbinding moment. The Bird's Nest Stadium became a tapestry of stunning visual show that sets a new benchmark for future hosts.

The four-hour spectacle came to a conclusion in typical Chinese style ala Jet Li. Li Ning, love handles et al, floated to the sky and lit the Olympic cauldron in the land that gave birth to Zheng He, or here in Malaysia he's commonly known as Laksamana Cheng Ho.

Athens too was memorable.

And Doha as well.

I wrote this following piece three days after the impressive opening ceremony of the Doha Asian Games in 2006.

DOHA, the tiny capital of Qatar, burst into a spectacle three nights ago and I must count my blessings to have witnessed it.

The lighting of the Games cauldron was simply extraordinary, dramatic and pure dare-devilstuff.

For those who missed the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games shownlive over RTM and Astro, it was a journey of dazzling tapestry of Islamic and Asian history, a night of the 1,001 nights.

In the most anticipated moment of the night, Mohammed bin Hamad binKhalifa Al-Thani, captain of the Qatari equestrian team, astride an Arabian thoroughbred, galloped a flight of stairs with one hand, while holding the torch on another. Not once but thrice the horse showed signs of struggling to reach the top, drawing gasps from a section of the 50,000-odd crowd, among whom were world leaders Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Abdullah Salleh (Yemen) plus International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge and FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter.

One could only shudder at the thought of the horse, dubbed the HeroHorse by the team behind the opening ceremony concept, collapsing near the pinnacle to the music composed for the occasion by Malaysian-born Chong Lim.

Thankfully it did not happen. It was just apprehension on my part. The whole spectacle was pre-ordained to go down in history, perhaps as memorable as the moment when the crowd held their breath as Paralympian archer Antonio Rebollo shot a flaming arrow 80 metres from the floor of the stadium to light the cauldron in Barcelona Olympics 1992.

But while the whole world was transfixed on what was unfolding at theKhalifa Stadium, the athletes - without whom "the Games of Your Life"would mean little - were fighting the chilling weather and rain.

Positioned at an uncovered area after the march past, all they wanted to do was to go back to the Athletes' Village after a long day.

Drenched and freezing, the athletes and officials pushed the security officials and rushed to the buses placed quite a distance away. In the pandemonium, some of the athletes and officials, according to witnesses, fell. Malaysian athletes, dressed in cheongsam and kungfu dress, kurta and our national dress the baju Melayu - were also part of the commotion.

They left the Athletes' Village as early as 3pm, took part in the march past and came back around 1am, way past their bed time. The contingent prayed hard that none of the athletes who got wet needed more than some paracetamol.

Perhaps fearing the backlash, the daily chef-de-mission meeting on Saturday was cancelled. Ah, well ... anyway while sports is supposed to be the unifying factor, the contingent wore different dresses to depict the melting pot that isMalaysia. But the contingent were supposed to be projected as one, solid unit. That they are all Malaysians, and that sports transcends racial barriers.

After all the authorities went to great lengths to ask the rakyat to come up with the Harimau Malaya design. But alas, perfection is never of this world. To err is human after all. Even a pure bred gelding - built for strength and endurance - came close to fluffing his lines.

Olympics, four years on Part 1

Some of the books, magazines and newspapers I brought back with me from the city of intellect

Olympics...ah, as we look ahead to almost a month of sporting spectacle, I can recall a lot of things that took place in the previous edition in Athens.

I remember the gang from the New Straits Times group bunking together in an apartment some 20 minutes from the Main Press Centre (MPC) at Kiffisias Avenue.

While Lazarus Rokk and Tham Foo Kan were trying to surpass each other in breaking the decibel levels with their snoring (they roomed together), Azahar Mohd Taib from Harian Metro and I were room mates for almost one month that we grew bored with each other!

Badrulhisham Othman, always the romantic, preferred to take the bed between my room and the lavatory, while Khalid Redza and later Hamdan Saaid from Bernama had the TV all to themselves upstairs.

I'm sure the gentlemen remember the landlord's two daughters - Dina and Dora, one a lawyer the other a doctor.

I remember the Press being made to wait for VVIP Datuk Azalina Othman Said for a get-together outside Carrefour which was situated adjacent to the MPC. The Greek tragedy in Athens, in many ways, provided an excuse for Azalina to trample on institutions...

Who would be made the scapegoat should we return again empty-handed?

I wonder who Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Azalina's successor, would point his fingers at...

Final Piala Belia

Piala Belia FAM sudah sampai ke penghujungnya Ahad ini. Final yang akan diadakan di Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV di Kota Bharu mempertemukan pasukan Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil (SSBJ) dengan tuan rumah Kelantan pada jam 4.0 petang.

Final ini agak signifikan. Ia adalah final terakhir pertandingan Bawah 19 tahun ini yang akan dimansuhkan bermula musim depan. Piala ini akan tinggal dalam lipatan sejarah bola sepak negara.

Ia dimansuhkan kerana Kementerian Pelajaran melancarkan Piala KPM khusus untuk Bawah 14 dan Bawah 17 tahun.

Maka satu-satunya pertandingan belia yang ada di bawah seliaan FAM adalah Piala Presiden, satu kejohanan Bawah 21 tahun.

Berbalik kepada final Ahad ini, SSBJ adalah juara bertahan dan dibimbing oleh anak Melaka yang juga bekas bek kebangsaan, Ong Kim Swee.

Selain menjadi tonggak Barcelona Babes bawah teraju Chow Kwai Lam pada 1991-92, Kim Swee menjadi orang kepercayaan Claude Le Roy pada Sukan Asia di Hiroshima pada 1994.

Kim Swee juga menjadi jurulatih program realiti TV Soccerkids di TV3.

Anak buah Kim Swee dan Yong Wai Hwang semuanya duduk sebumbung di Bukit Jalil dan masih bersekolah. Program ini bersandarkan perjanjian bersama FAM dan KPM yang sudah melahirkan Aidil Zafuan dan Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak, Amirulhadi Zainal, Nasril Nourdin dan Safiq Rahim.

Kelantan yang berazam menebus kekecewaan abang-abang senior gagal ke suku akhir Piala Malaysia, membariskan pemain lebih berusia.

The end of foreign pros

Karel Stromsik, Zoran Nikolic, Fandi Ahmad, Stephen Keshi, Emile Mbouh Mbouh, Alex Freeman, Alan Davidson, Zsolt Bucs...these are some of the foreign pros I can remember off hand who provided and injected the spark, inspiration and excitement into the domestic football scene over the years.

The FA of Malaysia council members on Saturday decided it was time to close the door on foreign pros...

Personally, I feel it is the wrong decision to take. Then again, how many foreign pros really contribute something to the team and in the process help educate their Malaysian team mates?

I feel sorry for the likes of Cornelius Huggins and Marlon James. They are the real cornerstones of the Kedah team, aided by Victor Andrag's steadying influence and Ahmad Fauzi Shaari's non-stop running and abetted by the emerging talents of Baddrol Bakhtiar, Khyril Muhymeen Zambri, Fadly Baharom and Shafiq Jamal.

If Kedah can afford to employ foreign players, let them. Why punish them with this blanket ruling?

SOS for hockey

A few moons ago I gave the heading SOS for hockey for an entry on the current state of the game in this beloved motherland of ours.

Thankfully our ex-stars are beginning to come up in the open, without resorting to technological means to express their concerns.

Read here

AFC, Mr Hammam and I

"Mr Hammam, honestly speaking, I feel as if I'm in a fortress," I pulled no punches as the gentleman in a dapper suit escorted me to the lift.

"I used to be able to walk into anybody's office or cubicle when AFC were sharing the same roof with OCM. Those days I could walk directly into Datuk Peter's office, but of course subject to prior approval of her PA."

The Arab gentleman shrugged it aside, saying: "We are trying to project a professional image. It is also for security reasons."

I left it at that.

By now Mr Mohamed Hammam Al-Abdulla, who was installed as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president in 2002, has grown accustomed to my style, direct and sometimes brusque to the point of being annoying.

On many occasions that our paths crossed, he assured me he would not entertain any calls for the AFC House to be shifted.

So when Hammam's proposal for AFC to move elsewhere was leaked out on Tuesday, a few hours ahead of the Malaysia-Chelsea match, read here it took me by surprise.

In a series of entries about AFC I intend to post in the foreseeable future, let's study the content of the interview I had with him in February 2002.

EXCEPT for their first four years when there were four presidents - all from Hong Kong - the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have been helmed by Malaysians.

From 1958 until today, a Prime Minister, a Cabinet member and a former Yang di-Pertuan Agong have had a hand in turning AFC into a respected organisation in world soccer.

Yet two years before AFC complete their five decades of existence, Malaysia are in danger of losing the presidency to a Qatari.

FIFA executive committee member Mohammad Hammam Al-Abdulla, described as a true gentleman by insiders, has declared his intention to run for the No 1 post.

The 20th AFC Congress, scheduled for May 10, has been postponed after the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, thus giving rise to the speculation that incumbent Sultan Ahmad Shah - who was unanimously elected in 1994 after Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah pulled out from the race two days before the elections due to health reasons - might pass the baton to Hammam.

Always immaculately dressed, Hammam, 53 on May 8, looks like some dapper businessman ready to conduct deals at the drop of a hat. The father of 10 - five sons and five daughters - shares his thoughts with Mailsport's Rizal Hashim.

SUNDAY MAIL: Why do you see the need to have a change in AFC's leadership? And what made you decide to contest the No 1 post?

HAMMAM: With due respect to His Royal Highness the Sultan, I felt the time was right for a change. The Press got hold of the fact that I was contesting the post before I had the chance to discuss the matter with the president. Now that I have spoken to the president of my intention, he understood my feelings and the reasons behind this decision. He did not want to stand in my way as he felt it was my democratic right to contest. I sought his blessings to do so. If he had said no, I would not have declared my candidature. Since coming into AFC six years ago, I have felt Asia is divided into several factions. Although it is not so, the opinion, within and outside the world soccer fraternity, is that we are not a family. My priority is to change that perception. The feedback I get is that AFC are divided and there are splinter groups - the Middle East is not on the same wavelength as leaders from the Far East or the former Soviet bloc and etc etc. Let me reiterate that the Sultan had contributed to the development of football in Asia. I have the utmost respect for him.

SM: The decision to postpone the AFC Congress is seen as a compromise to allow Sultan Ahmad Shah to lead AFC into the first World Cup in Asia before passing the baton to you. What is your opinion?

HAMMAM: AFC under the able leadership of the Sultan worked hard to bring the World Cup to Asia. Rightfully His Royal Highness should be accorded the honour to lead AFC into an event which is a milestone in the history of football. After all the Sultan was the one who had formally proposed the idea of co-hosting. I would not want to speculate on the possible contest because His Royal Highness has yet to make his position clear.

SM: Many see the presidency as a full-time job. If you were to become AFC's eighth president, how would juggle your time between your duties in AFC, FIFA and your family in Doha?

HAMMAM: I reckon I would be spending more time in Kuala Lumpur. But as it is, I have been criss-crossing the globe due to my commitments with FIFA and AFC. I supervise the GOAL project in every continent and I am also the chairman of the FIFA technical committee which convenes to discuss the technical matters and finer points of the game.

SM: How would you react should there be another candidate to emerge between now and nomination day?

HAMMAM: AFC have always practised democracy. In that true spirit of democracy the Sultan gave me his blessings to stand for elections. But I believe I have the support of even Sultan Ahmad Shah if there were to be some other candidates.

SM: The AFC secretariat have been based in Malaysia when it was moved from Hong Kong to Penang in 1965. In 1978 it was moved to Kuala Lumpur and two years ago, AFC's own building was completed. Do you see the need to shift it elsewhere?

HAMMAM: I have no intention of moving the AFC secretariat out of Kuala Lumpur. A lot of money has been spent in developing the AFC House and it is in no one's interest to contemplate a shift. Kuala Lumpur, after all, is a strategic location. From the Middle East it takes around seven hours to reach Kuala Lumpur and this city is around six hours away from Japan.

SM: Is the position of the general secretary, Datuk Peter Velappan, under threat should a new president be elected into office?

HAMMAM: The issue does not arise. Without Velappan, AFC would not be where it is now. Velappan is my partner, and a partner of Asia and AFC. He has been the backbone of the organisation long before others came into the picture. I also do not understand why is Velappan being dragged into the battle for presidency. Although his position carries a certain degree of influence, one must not forget that the executive committee is the supreme policymaker of AFC. The secretariat merely implements the policies. And the office-bearers are elected into office through a secret ballot from the delegates of 44 countries, 43 if you exclude Afghanistan.

SM: Tell us a little bit of your background.

HAMMAM: I have been involved in sports since 1970 when I became the president of Al-Rayyan, one of the biggest clubs in Qatar. I was president of the Qatar FA between 1992 and 1996 before moving on to AFC and FIFA. I also held the presidency of the Qatari volleyball and table tennis associations from 1979 to 1983. I was also a member of the Qatar Olympic Committee as well as a member of the Qatari Advisory Council which is equivalent to the parliament. I am involved in the construction business. I did Business Administration at Beirut University in Lebanon. This is a bit embarrassing, but I have 10 children - five sons and five
daughters. One more and I would have a football team! And contrary to reports, I do not fly by private jets.