KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said the setback of not qualifying for the Paris Olympics does not equate as failure as the national team had done well in other tournaments.
"Many criticised us (MHC). No, we didn't fail (in our duties). The only thing was we did not qualify for the Paris Olympics," said Subahan after chairing the MHC executive meeting at the National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil, today.
"It is unfortunate that the Olympics are only a 12-team competition. Other Asian teams, including South Korea, Japan and Pakistan, also did not qualify."
The Speedy Tigers had two chances to qualify for the Paris Games through last year's Hangzhou Asian Games and this year's Olympic Qualifiers in Muscat.
Malaysia, under then-coach A. Arul Selvaraj, finished sixth in Hangzhou and fifth in Muscat.
World No. 4 India are the only Asian team who will feature in Paris.
Subahan added: "The same team performed well by winning the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for the first time in 2022. They were also finallists at the 2002 Asia Cup in Jakarta and the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai."
For the record, Malaysia have not played in the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney edition.
Meanwhile, the MHC is in search of a new chief executive officer following Nishel Kumar's departure. He has returned to the National Sports Institute (NSI),
Nishel was appointed CEO for a year to oversee several tournaments, including the Junior World Cup in Bukit Jalil in December.
"Nishel carried out his duties exceptionally well, and we have appointed Nishel as a MHC executive board member."