KUALA LUMPUR: After being asked to apologise for his comments in a leaked audio clip, Sports Commissioner Suhardi Alias has hit back at the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).
Suhardi was allegedly heard threatening to deregister OCM in the audio clip, which was an excerpt from a recent closed meeting with two eSport groups.
This has led to OCM deputy president Datuk Hamidin Amin releasing a statement on Saturday, urging Suhardi to apologise for his remarks. Hamidin is also FAM president.
A statement, released by Suhardi on Saturday, said many within the sporting community believed that Hamidin, himself, should apologise to FAM members and the Malaysian public for failing to achieve their gold medal target at the Phnom Sea Games in May.
"Ironically, both associations, headed by the OCM president (Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, BAM) and deputy president (Hamidin), failed to meet their own medal targets at the last Sea Games," said Suhardi.
"They should improve their governance and not blame the athletes and coaches for (what is essentially) the leader's failure."
Suhardi reminded OCM that they are not above the law and are also subject to rules and requirements laid out in the Sports Development Act (Act 576) as highlighted in section eight and nine of the Act.
"This means that OCM is also subject to this Act, references to sporting bodies also include OCM," said Suhardi.
"I advise OCM to abide to all rules as well as the Act to ensure that the development of affiliates under them improves in the future.
"OCM has to adhere to the legal provisions under the Act as they are not immune to legal action in this country."
Suhardi claimed that his remarks regarding OCM were taken out of context, and he has since lodged a police report to hold those who spread the audio clip accountable for causing distress within the sporting community.
It is believed that his comments were made in jest to calm down the two eSports parties during the meeting.
"I held a closed meeting on Nov 14 with the Malaysia Electronic Sports Governance Association (MEGA) and Malaysia Electronic Sports Federation (MESF) with the goal of finding a peaceful solution.
"MESF is a legitimate organisation registered with the Sports Commissioner's Office (SCO) while MEGA is registered under the Registrar of Societies (RoS).
"This is the main reason that SCO has given more time to MEGA to discuss the possibility of becoming an affiliate of MESF.
"This is to resolve the registration and membership issue faced at the international level by these two associations."
Neither MEGA nor MESF are affiliates of OCM.
"As this (audio clip) issue will be investigated by the authorities, I hope all parties will refrain from making statements which could affect the investigation and make matters worse."
