KUALA LUMPUR: Norza has taken Suhardi to task for having purportedly threatened to deregister the umbrella body.
A one minute 20-second audio clip had made its round through WhatsApp, with Suhardi allegedly threatening to deregister OCM while drawing parallel between OCM and the Israeli government in the ongoing conflict in Palestine, thus bringing the umbrella body into disrepute.
The conversation took place in a discussion between the Sports Commissioner and two groups representing eSports relating to the registration and international affiliation of a recognised eSports governing body on Nov 14, 2023.
Norza said: "I have instructed OCM Secretary General Datuk Nazifuddin Mohd Najib to make the necessary steps in lodging a strong protest over this kind of behaviour, if indeed it is true.
"We believe it was a conduct unbecoming of the Sports Commissioner to be making such remarks as OCM's status in the Sports Development Act 1997 as the umbrella body of national sports association is guaranteed under the Malaysian law.
"His remarks, if he indeed makes it, clearly indicated malicious intent on the part of the Sports Commissioner.
"Although OCM was not a party to the discussion, the threat was mentioned for no apparent reason.
"We do not wish to jump to conclusions but we feel the need for the Sports Commissioner to clear the air as the alleged threat can be construed as overstepping his boundaries.
"OCM will not hesitate to take necessary action, including lodging a protest to the Minister of Youth and Sports," said Norza.
Meanwhile, the Malaysia Electronic Sports Governance Association (MEGA) hopes for a quick resolution from the Sports Commissioner's Office (SCO).
MEGA, who applied to be registered under the SCO in February this year, said it is not looking to replace the Malaysia Electronic Sports Federation (MESF) which has already registered with the SCO.
MEGA is affiliated with Global eSports Federation while MESF is a member of the International Electronic Sports Federation (IESF) and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF).
The International Olympic Council has yet to recognise any international eSports federation, but the Olympic Council of Asia recognises AESF.
Both MESF and MEGA are not affiliated with OCM which had formed a special eSports task force to allow esports athletes to compete in the Phnom Penh Sea Games in May and the recent Hangzhou Asian Games.
It is learnt that the SCO has asked MEGA to join a club under MESF but it is not keen to do so.
MEGA representative Hisham Darus said they are a member of a different world body and they only want to know the status of their application to the SCO.
Hisham said their meeting with Suhardi on Nov 14 could not provide a proper solution, as MEGA was asked to join MESF as a club.
"We were told by the Sports Commissioner that MEGA's registration process could not be carried out as Section 16 of the Sports Development Act states that there should not be more than one national sports association," said Hisham.
"We checked with our lawyer on Section 16 and were informed that it was not right for the SCO to refer to it as a justification not to proceed with our registration.
"We just want to know if our application is accepted or rejected.
"If it's rejected, we could move forward by challenging the decision in the court, it's not right for SCO to hold our application and ask us to join MESF."
"We are affiliated to different world bodies, it doesn't make sense for us to join MESF. We have different aspirations and directions.
"We hope for an amicable solution so that we can focus on preparing our athletes for international tournaments."