Jadadish clears the air over nomination fiasco

KUALA LUMPUR: Four days after an uproar erupted over the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) elections, it seems that everything has returned to normal and that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Nov 16 will go on as scheduled.

On Wednesday, the Kedah Hockey Association (KHA) supporters had threatened to lodge police reports and complaints to the Sports Commissioner after the MHC elections turned ugly with the challenger for the presidency being disqualified.

However, to date, no action has been taken.

Yesterday, a press conference was called by the MHC legal committee chairman Jadadish Chandra to clear the air.

Jadadish confirmed that the Regent of Pahang Tengku Mahkota Tengku Hassanal has withdrawn from the contest for the deputy presidency, paving the way for a straight fight between Kuala Lumpur HA president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin and himself.

MHC will hold their AGM on Nov 16 to select the new office bearers for another term from 2019 to 2023.

Jadadish said three other candidates for the vice-president’s post have also withdrawn. They are M. Gobinathan, S. Satish Kumar and Mohd Yazid Mohd Yunus.

Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal retained the MHC president’s post unopposed as his challenger AirAsia executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun failed to muster the number of nominations needed.

Subahan received 13 of the 16 affiliates nominations while Kamarudin had the backing of only two, falling short of the three needed under the MHC constitution for the post.

Three affiliates – Johor, KL and Kedah – nominated Kamarudin for the president’s post. However, Kedah HA submitted the nomination letters twice, resulting in total chaos.

Jadadish said he wanted to clear the air as Kedah HA president Mohd Asmirul Anuar Aris had submitted the first nomination list on Oct 24 with Subahan’s name.

“But on Nov 1, the Kedah HA sent another nomination letter signed by secretary B. Sandra Ganesan nominating Kamarudin.

“It was the same case with KLHA who submitted two nomination letters. In the first nomination letter dated Oct 31, they nominated the Regent of Pahang. But on Nov 2, they submitted another nomination letter by nominating Kamarudin for the president’s post and the Regent of Pahang for the deputy presidency.”

Jadadish said that they could have discarded both nominations but they have given them the benefit of the doubt.

It was reported that Johor HA deputy president Datuk Majid Manjit Abdullah and his team were unhappy after Kamarudin was disqualified for the president’s post.

But to date, none of Kamarudin’s supporters have withdrawn from the elections.