Khairul Hafiz can still qualify for world indoor c’ships
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Athletics Federation ( MAF) president Datuk Karim Ibrahim said the door to the 2018 World Indoor Championships ( WIC) is still open to national sprint king, Khairul Hafiz Jantan.
“If Khairul Hafiz meets the qualifying time in Tehran, then we will appeal to the International As so c i a t i on o f Athle t i c s Federations (IAAF) to consider his participation in the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, from March 1- 4.”
Khairul Hafiz, who is also the national record holder in the 100m and 200m events, is down to compete in the 8th Asian Closed Athletics Championships in Tehran, Iran in February.
The issue arose after Khairul Hafiz reportedly said that he was disappointed with the MAF for dropping him from the 2018 WIC despite being nominated by the national athletics body.
Karim explained that the MAF decided to give the wildcard ticket to triple jumper Muhammad Hakimi Ismail because the closing date for the WIC was on Dec 2.
“We waited for word from the Khairul Hafiz’ coach ( Mohd Poad Md Kassim), but he did not give any reply and this prompted us to nominate Muhammad Hakimi as replacement since we were in a hurry.
Earlier, Mohd Poad said Khairul Haf iz was dropped from the Birmingham meet so that the sprinter can focus on the 2018 Pre-Asian Games Championship in Indonesia in February. — Bernama