SHOCKING REVELATIONS

‘Culture and environment of fear’ in national diving

SPORTS Minister Khairy Jamaluddin dropped a bombshell yesterday when he revealed the shocking issues that had led to national diving coach Yang Zhuliang’s contract not being renewed.

In a Facebook posting, Khairy said a “culture and environment of fear” (affecting national divers) brought about the decision not to continue with Zhuliang’s services.

Khairy said a investigation which he had ordered after the rape case involving a national diver in October, revealed that though Zhuliang was not involved, he had allowed a culture which led to it.

“The main reason Zhuliang’s contract was not renewed was the culture and environment of fear among a section of our national divers.

“This culture and environment had led to rape, sexual harassment, violence, physical abuse, bullying and threats.

“Although Zhuliang was not involved in any of those incidents, he allowed it to spread uncontrolled despite being warned together with another coach who was very close to him.

“After that coach was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Court on Oct 11 according to Section 376 (1) for raping a national diver, the situation became more complicated.

“After the rape outrage, I asked Datuk Marina Chin to investigate how such incidents could be avoided in the future. Her investigation showed that a culture and environment of fear had become widespread across the sport.

“This is why I had chosen not to extend his contract. As the Sports Minister, my responsibility is not only to ensure we excel in sports but also to ensure the safety and welfare of our athletes. No gold medal is worth more than the safety of our athletes.”

Khairy said he had initially told the National Sports Institute (NSI) to be careful not to tarnish the reputation of any party when announcing the decision not to extend Zhuliang’s contract.

“Perhaps NSI were not able to give a full explanation due to my orders and this had led to question marks. This gives me no choice but to reveal everything about the situation.

“Nobody can deny the success that Zhuliang has achieved since he was appointed as the national head coach of Malaysia in 2008. He has developed us into a world class nation in the sport and although he is from China, he is a Malaysian sporting hero who deserves due recognition.”

Khairy said he is aware that the national divers have a challenging year ahead with the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Indonesia Asian Games.

“I am aware that the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are going to be held soon. NSI and the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia have identified an Australian coach who will be able to assist Zhang Yukun, who will be head coach.”

Khairy said the new line-up of coaches have been asked to integrate sports science into their training methods, mental conditioning, bio mechanics and nutrition which were not fully incorporated prior to this.