KUALA LUMPUR: Don't tell the whole world how poor you are.
That seems to be Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim's view on financial problems in the national body.
MAF deputy president Datuk Fadzil Bakar had told Timesport after a council meeting last month that the federation have only RM186,000 left in the bank, making it difficult for them to organise competitions this year.
MAF need RM80,000 to run the Malaysian Track and Field Championships on Feb 11-12 and RM150,000 to host the Malaysian Open in June or July. They also need to pay salaries to their staff apart from other expenses.
Shahidan said the revelation of the federation's financial woes is a "bad image" to him as MAF president.
"In future, we will not reveal our financial problem to the public. The public is not going to help us in overcoming it," said Shahidan after chairing an organising committee meeting on Saturday.
Because of financial issues, MAF cancelled their hosting of the Asean Youth Championships last October.
Fadzil, who chaired MAF's previous council meeting in the absence of Shahidan, was taken to task by MAF members for revealing the amount to Timesport.
Shahidan said MAF will find ways to settle their financial problems.