Razak Cup to be brought forward a week before Deepavali

Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee, admitting it was an oversight, then decided to bring forward the Razak Cup one week before Deepavali.

But now the new dates of Oct 26-Nov 3 clash with the Oman Asian Champions Trophy and so, the 26 national players will not play in the Razak Cup.

The ACT will be held in Oman on Oct 18-28.

"When we sent out letters to the states, stating that the Razak Cup would be held on Nov 3-11 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, it was an oversight as Deepavali is on Nov 6," said competitions committee manager Brian Fernandez.

When pointed out that the new dates clash with the ACT, he said: “We are aware of that, but a decision was made earlier this year that national players will not play in local tournaments because of a hectic international schedule."

But when Brian was asked when and who made the decision, he could not remember.

After the MHC competitions committee sent out the invitation, which clashed with Deepavali, Negri Sembilan HA were the first to reply that they will withdraw if the dates are not changed.

When Brian was asked about a code-of-conduct letter which the new committee members had to sign, he said it was a normal procedure to make sure the statements come from one source and do not conflict.

The new committee, eight in all, are not allowed to make statements to the media.