INTERNAL ISSUES WREAK HAVOC
Wei Yan hopes Taekwondo Selangor’s problems will be resolved soon
WORLD championship bronze medallist Chew Wei Yan is pleading to the powers-that-be to quickly settle the issues faced by Selangor for the sake of its exponents.
Wei Yan, who is the first ever Malaysian to win a medal at the Poomsae World Championships, made it clear he is against politics in sports and said the issue has greatly affected the state’s athletes.
“I want to make it clear that I am not taking sides, I don’t want to comment on who is right or wrong or who the culprits are,” said Wei Yan.
“I just don’t know why must they make such a scene that affects the exponents, until they (exponents) are not able to compete.”
The Klang-born exponent retired from the national squad last year, but remains active in coaching and also continues to compete.
He is one of the 52 exponents that Selangor had hoped to send to the national meet which also serves as the selection platform for the Manila Sea Games.
Despite not training full-time with the national team anymore, Wei Yan had also been hoping to snag a spot on the Sea Games team this year. He had won gold in the individual event at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.
Wei Yan, however, said that competing in the national meet under a premier club, a solution which Taekwondo Malaysia (TM) had suggested, was not that straightforward.
“At the moment we do not have much choice. It (issue) hit us quite close to the tournament so we did not have much time to consider a second option,” added Wei Yan.
“If we insist on going on and competing with another club (premier club), it is not good for our relationship with our own master (head coach).”
Taekwondo Selangor (TNS) have been barred from competing in the National Championships which starts tomorrow by TM.
TM demanded that TNS settle their internal issues first before they can be involved in national level competition again. In the meantime they have asked that Selangor ’s exponents compete under the various premier clubs competing in the national meet.
TNS are facing an internal power struggle and have been advised by the Sports Commissioners Office to conduct their Annual General Meeting (AGM) again. They will be conducting a extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next month followed by their AGM in May.