KUALA LUMPUR: There is no place for racism in sports.
Sports is supposed to unite communities, not cause hatred among races.
The National Sports Council (NSC) and the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) got it right by indefinitely suspending national women's hockey player Hanis Nadiah Onn for her tweet, deemed racist against a certain race in the country.
Everyone in the community must support this strong stand instead of politicising it to gain plus points.
Although Hanis deleted her tweet and apologised later, it angered many people, especially a certain community who has contributed significantly to the development of Malaysia.
"Hanis is not racist," said hockey coach K. Rajan, and perhaps she made an innocent mistake.
But it was a "grave" mistake, so let this incident be a warning to everyone, not only those in the sports community.
The NSC and national sports associations should also educate and remind their athletes to be respectful and just focus on enhancing their talent to bring glory to Malaysia.
Athletes are role models to youngsters, and they should be mindful of what they upload on social media.
Sadly, racism is not new in sports.
Black footballers, mainly from Africa and Malaysian Indian players and coaches have experienced racist harassment.
There had been cases of disgruntled fans making monkey noises and chanting racist terms during football matches.
Two years ago, shuttler S. Kisona became the victim of racist slur on social media. She was the target of a netizen who used a derogatory word against her.
Although appropriate action was taken, it mentally affected her, which led to a string of poor results.
Education is key, and schools must make efforts to educate students on respecting communities and to be colour blind.
Malaysian sports can only grow if everyone respects one another, and that equal opportunities are accorded to athletes, regardless of race and skin colour.
This scribe hopes the concerned parties will kick out racism from Malaysian sports.
The day it happens, sports in the country will grow and we will become a powerful sporting nation.
Say no to racism.
Ajitpal Singh is the Sports Editor of NST
