Sports Commissioner, OCM Can Act On MFF, Fencer

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- The Sports Commissioner and Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) can take action on the Malaysian Fencing Federation (MFF) and its athlete who allegedly punched a colleague.Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the Sports Commissioner had the power to act on the MFF if there were reports of abuse of power in the association.

The OCM, meanwhile, could take disciplinary action on the athlete, who has been listed for the Korat Sea Games in December, she said."National Sports Council (NSC) Director-General Datuk Zolkples Embong has briefed me on the incident and I am very disappointed because it involves physical assault and does not refect the attitude of national athletes," she told a press conference here Monday.

Azalina was commenting on a police report lodged on Oct 19 by national number one fencer Ayse Nur Hikmet who alleged that a colleague punched her on the left cheek at a training venue in Bukit Jalil.Azalina said: "Even though it involves a child of the association's president, it should not be personalised. If one is dissatisfied, report it to the NSC and if there was an abuse of power, report it to the Sports Commissioner," she said.Meanwhile, Zolkples said the NSC could not take any action including dropping the athlete from the Korat list because the alleged attacker was not involved in any of its programmes."If the athlete is under the NSC programme, its working committee can consult the association concerned on action that needs to be taken.

In this case, only the OCM can take action on the athlete," he said.Zolkples also said that the MFF had not been cooperative with the NSC over several other disciplinary incidents involving national fencers."The NSC has several times sent letters about misconduct of national fencers but no response has been received and no action has been taken," he said.-- BERNAMA