Sports chief lacks expertise, says Ong over Klang marathon

PETALING JAYA: Ong Kian Ming has questioned how the sports commissioner could be finding fault with the organisers of the Klang International Marathon, held on Sunday, when it has no expertise in understanding what it takes to run such an event.

Referring to statement from sports commissioner Zaiton Othman yesterday, in which she said the organisers of the running event had not applied for a licence to hold the event, the Serdang MP said the reality is that the vast majority of running events are not approved by the Office of the Sports Commissioner.

“While picking on the ill-fated event for possible legal action, what the sports commissioner and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin failed to disclose is that the vast majority of races in Malaysia are not approved by the Office of the Sports Commissioner.

“That is because the race organiser only has to obtain permission from the local authority, such Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), the venue owner and the traffic police,” Ong said in a statement.

On Sunday, three runners were injured, one critically, after a car had plowed into them from the back, at around the 14km mark of the marathon race.

Taking to task Zaiton’s comment that punitive action will be taken against the organiser, Ong said the Office of the Sports Commissioner has no expertise in determining or ensuring the quality of a running event including the safety standards.

“While the law states that the approval for running events is supposed to be given by the Office of the Sports Commissioner, in reality, this office does not have the expertise or capacity to evaluate if a race organiser is up to the mark in terms of their ability to organise a safe and high-quality race.

“The sports commissioner will turn to the sporting body that oversees that sport to seek their recommendation on whether to approve an event or not,” he said.

He added that for running events, the relevant body is the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF).

“This being the case, one wonders how the Office of the Sports Commissioner can decide on whether or not to follow the recommendation of the MAF in approving a particular race.

Approval process too vague

Ong, who is also DAP deputy political education director, also cited the Sports Development Act 1997, saying that the particular section requiring approval of the sports commissioner was too vague.

“The section on the approval process is too broad, too general, too vague and too impractical.

“For example, does it also cover 3-on-3 basketball competitions in my residential area (with participation fees and cash prizes)?

“If every sporting event which is organised by a company needs this approval, the Office of the Sports Commissioner will be inundated with applications on a daily basis,” he said, adding that the current legislation is unclear on how to answer this and other questions definitively.

Ong said with an explosion in the number of running and cycling events over the past five years, more discussion is needed on the process of approval for such events.

“What I hope won’t happen is a knee jerk reaction such as forcing all running events which are to be held in the next few weeks or months to obtain approval in an arbitrary manner from the Office of the Sports Commissioner,” he said. -FMT