Kok Chi finds quarrel between two parties appalling

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary general Datuk Sieh Kok Chi is perplexed over the ongoing feud between the two national bodies for dodgeball in Malaysia.

Kok Chi believes both the Malaysia Association of Dodgeball (MAD) and the Malaysia Dodgeball Federation (MDF) should put aside their differences and focus on the sport.

The veteran sports administrator did not mince his words when breaking down the situation with the fledgling sport, which was only introduced in Malaysia a decade ago.

“Humans play sports for fun, health and friendship. Please note the word is ‘PLAY’ and not work or quarrel,” said Kok Chi yesterday.

“Who owns dodgeball? Can anyone stop others from playing dodgeball? Is anyone breaking the law by playing dodgeball?

“I really don’t understand why they need to fight and quarrel. Anyway dodgeball is not a popular sport, it is not football or volleyball or basketball or hockey.

“If there are two world bodies, there can be two national bodies such as in kabaddi (two).

“To me they’re very selfish to quarrel over nothing.”

MAD compete under the World Dodgeball Federation (WDBF) while MDF are under the World Dodgeball Association (WDA). Both use different rules and balls with WDBF utilising foam balls, while WDA use fabric balls.

They also compete in completely different tournaments with WDBF having their own World Championships while WDA have their World Cup.

Both associations’ national squads have done well in their respective world meets in recent years.

MAD were first to introduce the sport in Malaysia in 2008 while MDF were officially setup in 2016. Fadhli Ishak