MANAGER STANDS HIS GROUND

Sabiamad will not apologise to Nur Ayuni and Muslifah

NO apology. That is the stance of Datuk Sabiamad Abdul Ahad, who is the national shooting squad team manager for the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games,

He said he will not issue an apology to national shooters Nur Ayuni Farhana Abdul Halim and Muslifah Zulkifli.

At the end of the 24-hour notice set by the two shooters yesterday, both the National Sports Council (NSC) and Sabiamad decided to stay their ground and make no further comments.

The National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) couldn’t be contacted for comments.

On Thursday, Nur Ayuni and Muslifah demanded an apology from all three parties — the NSC, Sabiamad and the NSAM — for allegedly accusing them of having discipline issues, which resulted in the duo being dropped from the Sea Games squad.

NSC director general Datuk Shapawi Ahmad, when contacted, said: “I don't wish to say anything because I have met the two of them. They understand clearly, therefore there is no need for me to comment further."

Sabiamad said no accusations were made against the two shooters and that they were emotional on the issue,

Nur Ayuni and Muslifah had earlier threatened to take legal action against all three parties if they fail to meet their demands.

According to Nur Ayuni and Muslifah, the issue started when they had expressed their dissatisfaction after being dropped from the Podium Programme in February. They were later excluded from the Sea Games squad on grounds of being indiscipline.

The two shooters claimed to have met Shapawi to find a solution but the issue was never resolved, instead Nur Ayuni and Muslifah were labelled ungrateful and rude.

The duo also claimed that they were ignored by the top management of the Podium Programme, as their emails requesting to meet Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin have yet to receive a reply.