KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Zamri Ramli, the coach-cum-team manager for the Malaysian team to the recent Indonesia Asian Games, should relinquish his positions in any skateboarding associations.
This is the view of Nuriman Amri Abdul Manap, the father of skateboarder Ian Nuriman Amri, the youngest Malaysian representative at the Asian Games.
There were allegations that Zamri “did not act” as the coach or team manager on competition days during the Asian Games as he did not want to be blamed if the Malaysian skateboarders failed to perform.
“Zamri should not be involved in any association matters,” said Nuriman.
A series of unfortunate events happened in the months leading up to the Asian Games in August as the national skateboarders made their preparations.
It had much to do with the conflict between the Malaysian Extreme Sports Association (MESA) and the Malaysia Skate Federation (MYSKATE).
On July 25, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between MESA and MYSKATE was signed by their respective presidents, Tan Sri Darshan Singh and Idroos Tambarin.
Under the MoU, MYSKATE would have full rights over administration of the sport and they were to be assisted by MESA’s top officials, including Datuk Manjit Singh Gille, who was appointed as MYKSATE secretary general while Darshan was made honorary president.
However, prior to the MoU, MESA made some promises which did not materialise.
These include an overseas training stint which didn’t happen and there was also a lack of assistance in helping the skateboarders prepare for the Asian Games.
The athletes were aware that the sport was under category B – which meant they had to pay their own way.
“If they (MESA) arrange for overseas training, the association will have to work hard to find funding and help the athletes.
“Do MESA have the capability to source for funding? We expect the association to be able to source for funding but if they’re just going to dilly dally, might as well not establish an association.”
Nuriman claimed that Mesa have made it known they wanted to send eight skateboarders to the Woodward Skate Camp in the US before the Asian Games but nothing came of it.
Nuriman said he and other professional skateboarders had spoken out on the issues on social media but there had been no changes.
They wish to see changes in the sport’s administration in Malaysia as skateboarding will be contested at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Nuriman, 40, disclosed that Malaysia were supposed to be represented by eight skateboarders, instead of four, at the Asian Games but due to “many obstacles”, four potential gold medallists had to give up their dreams.
Meanwhile, Zambri said he wants to forego any positions in the national team to make way for his “saboteurs” to do a “better job”.
“If they think they can do better, they can join MYSKATE to become coach or to raise the standard of extreme sports,” he said.
“I don’t think I will coach the Malaysia team anymore and I will just focus on judging at Asian level. The decision is not based on what happened at the Asian Games but like I said, if the saboteurs feel they can do better, I’ll give them a chance to do so.”
Zambri, who once represented Malaysia professionally alongside legendary skateboarder Pa’din Musa, admitted that Malaysia still have a long way to go in the sport in the aspiration to participate in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.