KL’s Razak Cup preparations thrown into disarray

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur’s preparation for the Razak Cup hockey tournament, which begins this Friday at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, is in turmoil.

KL coaches and former internationals S. Sivabalan and Raymond Tio have quit the team due to a KL Hockey Association (KLHA) official interfering in the team selection for the Razak Cup.

It is learnt that 19 players were intially named on Tuesday night after completion of training.

Each state is only allowed four guest players but Sivabalan and Raymond wanted to include a fifth guest player.

The coaches were annoyed as they were denied the final say in the team selection and the decision was not made according to what was mutually discussed the night before.

Sivabalan declined to comment, only confirming that he was no longer coaching the KL team.

It is also learnt that another two former internationals, K. Gobinathan and Saiful Azli Abdul Rahman, have now taken charge of the KL team.

KLHA secretary V. Rajamanickam admitted that Sivabalan and Raymond quit as coaches as they wanted to include a fifth guest player – a goalkeeper from Selangor.

“We can’t include another keeper in the team as we already have two keepers. We also can’t include another guest keeper as we already have four guest players in the team. The coaches were unhappy and they quit the team,” said Rajamanickam.

Eight teams will feature in Division One and KL are drawn in Group A with defending champions Perak, Negri Sembilan and Perlis while Group B comprises Melaka, Penang, Johor and Terengganu.