Sports Council addresses selection issues

by Matthew T. Umpang, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 18, 2013, Tuesday

LET ME EXPLAIN: Francis (centre) speaking to reporters during a press conference at Jalan Palm yesterday while Ting (right) and Mohd Salleh (left) looks on.

KUCHING: Sarawak athletes in taekwondo and wushu who aim to represent the state must first check the status of their respective clubs from now on.
The Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS) will only look into the athletes recommended by clubs affiliated with the council.
MSNS director Francis Nyurang Ding said that such a procedure is necessary mainly due to the fact that the council has received complaints from the public regarding the selection procedure of taekwondo and wushu athletes to represent the state.
“There is a need for the public to know how we select athletes to represent the state. So I want to make it clear here that we do have certain standard procedure and criteria,”
“Let us take wushu for example. There are so many wushu associations here in Sarawak but MSNS can only work with one as we have other sports associations that need our assistance as well,” he explained during a press conference yesterday.
He noted that there have been a few unaffiliated clubs who go for tournaments overseas winning medals and awards but their exponents are not eligible to represent Sarawak because they are not registered with the MSNS-affiliated club or body.
Francis recommended that these athletes who want to represent Sarawak register themselves with the MSNS-affiliated club or body. The MSNS calls these affiliates “parent bodies”.
He also advised these different bodies to merge or work together for the good of the state as MSNS is only interested in what is good for Sarawak.
In Sarawak, the parent body for wushu is the Wushu, Lion and Dragon Dance Federation of Sarawak while for taekwondo it is the Sarawak Taekwondo Association (WTF).
“There is no doubt that the state taekwondo and wushu teams will consist of exponents recommended by these two associations. They have been chosen as affiliates to the MSNS and we have to respect their recomendations,” added Francis.
Also present during the press conference was Wushu, Lion and Dragon Dance Federation secretary James Ting and Sarawak Taekwondo Association (WTF) president Mohd Salleh Sani.
Wushu and taekwondo will be included in next year’s edition of Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) in Perlis.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/06/18/sports-council-addresses-selection-issues/#ixzz2ZBVY1Wmk